Expatriates eager to invest in bourse facilitated

The Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) has shared plans to facilitate investment by non-resident Pakistanis in the country’s stock market through the introduction of Roshan Digital Account with designated large-scale banks.

Through the initiative, non-resident Pakistanis willing to invest in the stock market of Pakistan would be able to do so through an efficient, secure and convenient mechanism, said CDC CEO Badiuddin Akber in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Since there was no additional requirement for the non-resident Pakistanis to start investing in the stock market besides having a Roshan Digital Account, they just needed to give authority to their respective bank to link them with CDC, he said.

“Within the next 24 hours, applicants will be able to trade without the need of any further documents or information as CDC is going to act as an information hub, connecting the stock market with banks,” the statement said.

According to the CEO, the permission granted to Roshan Digital Account holders to trade in the stock market is a remarkable step taken by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) aimed at facilitating overseas Pakistanis.

He added that allowing non-resident Pakistanis to invest in the stock market through the Roshan Digital Account was also the result of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) vision to increase the ease of doing business for investors.

The CEO lauded the collaborative efforts of the SECP and SBP through which an important milestone was achieved.

“CDC is working on this project with the SBP-designated banks,” the statement said. “The service will be available to non-resident Pakistanis with the availability of Roshan Digital Account, which is scheduled to be launched very soon.”