PSX simplifies basic brokerage account opening
In a move to attract small investors who shy away from stock investing partly because of excessive documentation, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has “further simplified” the brokerage account-opening procedure. In a brief note on Thursday, the national bourse said it has made a “significant reduction” in the number of data fields required for customer on-boarding. As a result, the updated Sahulat KYC (know-your-client) and account-opening forms now require only identity details, address, income level, profession, source of income and bank account information. Launched in April 2022, the Sahulat Account lets small retail investors buy and sell shares on the PSX by opening a basic account with a brokerage house after submitting their computerised/smart national identity cards. All licensed securities brokers are now offering Sahulat Accounts, which can be opened online as well. Unlike traditional brokerage accounts, investors don’t have to submit any specific evidence for their source of income for opening Sahulat Accounts. In other words, brokers won’t require salary slips or bank statements from potential stock market investors if they choose to open this kind of brokerage accounts.