KARACHI: New as well as old investors can now invest easily in stocks at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through the highly simplified Sahulat Account, which can be opened easily by submission of CNIC/SNIC, after which up to Rs 800,000 may be invested.
According to analysts, Sahulat Account provides an ideal option to individuals such as students, housewives and new investors, who have been wanting to invest in the stock market but have thus far felt hesitant to do so as they have often found the conventional account opening process tedious, with numerous documents required to be submitted.
All licensed securities brokers are offering the Sahulat Account facility and such an account can be opened online as well. An important factor is that for Sahulat Account, investors need not submit any specific evidence of source of income, such as salary slips or bank statements, the analysts point out.
In order to remove any kind of ambiguity on the part of brokers and their customers, the PSX has already issued a notice with respect to the account opening process for the Sahulat Account. As per this process, any individual identified as ‘low risk’ through risk assessment can open a Sahulat Account.
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The securities brokers may apply simplified diligence measures which include verification of identity of customers.
Highlighting the convenience offered by the new facility, the managing director and chief operating officer of PSX, Farrukh H. Khan, said the Sahulat Account involves an extremely simplified process of account opening.
Coupled with recent improvements in online opening of accounts and local KYC sharing, it has never been easier for individuals to open a brokerage account and benefit from investing in the stock market, he added.
“The Pakistan Stock Exchange continues its efforts to expand its outreach and become accessible to investors, particularly retail investors, throughout Pakistan,” he said. The ease with which investors can open a Sahulat Account is proof of PSX’s efforts to not only provide greater accessibility to individual investors but also increase the number of investors on the stock exchange.
“We are now counting upon our ecosystem members, the securities brokers, to leverage these developments to facilitate and bring in new investors,” Mr Khan said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022