Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, lies thousands of miles from London’s trading rooms – let alone the political lobbyists in Washington. This summer, however, Grigori Marchenko, the Kazakh central bank governor, has reason to follow the US and UK debate about the future of credit derivatives with particular interest.

By the end of this month, Kazakhstan is supposed to restructure two of its highest profile banks, BTA and Alliance, which have all but collapsed in recent months. This reorganisation would be emotive and challenging in any circumstances, given the complexity of Kazakhstan’s domestic political scene.