Equity Market: Opportunity For Bank Account Holders To Invest In

Web Desk — As part of the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP’s) ‘Shared KYC (Know Your Customer) Project, resident investors can open capital market accounts on their bank’s portal or app, central bank governor Dr. Reza Baqir stated on Tuesday. He added that the move would enable the equity market to be more widely accessible.

During a visit to the Central Depository Company (CDC) to mark the successful operations of two important projects for the Pakistan Capital Market, namely the Roshan Equity Investment for Roshan Digital Account (RDA) holders as well as the Raast dividend payment service, Dr Baqir appreciated the CDC’s role.

“CDC will act as the information-sharing bridge for the digital opening of capital market accounts through banking portals for local investors with the aim of eliminating the duplication of information capture and KYC processes,” said CDC CEO Badiuddin Akber.

The CDC is already processing thousands of transactions related to Roshan Digital Accounts and Roast for the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Topline Securities CEO Mohammad Sohail said that the new service will save investors a lot of time and effort in opening broker accounts.

According to Samiullah Tariq, head of research for the Pak-Kuwait Investment and Development Company, account opening has been a major issue in the Pakistani market. Compared with regional countries, the investment ratio is very low, he said, adding that the number of investors is almost one tenth of Bangladesh’s market.

“It will also help grow companies and raise capital when new investors are seeking investment avenues,” he added.