Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and Meezan Bank Limited signed an agreement to provide a dedicated Shariah- compliant trading platform for Roshan Digital Account (RDA) clients.

The agreement would facilitate investors who are focused on investing in Shariah approved securities, according to press statement received here from PSX. The Agreement was signed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer PSX, Farrukh H. Khan and the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer, Meezan Bank, Irfan Siddiqui. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chairperson PSX, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, and senior management of both the organisations.

The trading platform would be available through, KiTS (Karachi Internet Trading System), the online trading system provided by PSX.

Any RDA client of an Islamic bank can now avail this platform for investing in PSX through the services offered by more than a 100 securities brokers using KiTS as an Order Management System (OMS).

The purpose of this platform is to enable Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) to securely invest in their homeland’s capital market in a Shariah-compliant manner, the statement said. Moreover, with this development in KiTS, Shariah- compliant investing capability could be offered virtually by many TREC-Holders to their RDA customers. Hence, providing clients a broader suite of securities brokers to select from for their Shariah-compliant investment needs.

The criteria for investing on Shariah-compliant platform has been developed by Meezan Bank and vetted by the PSX Shariah Advisor.

The specifications of the Shariah-compliant trading platform include investing in KMI-All Share securities, Shariah-compliant IPOs and shariah-compliant ETFs. Trading option is available only for Ready and Odd Lot markets. The recently bought shares can be sold on T+2 basis, i.e., when shares purchased are available in CDS account.

Speaking on the occasion, MD PSX, Farrukh Khan said that Pakistan Stock Exchange was at the forefront of using technology to enhance the experience of market participants including investors.

He said, the demand for Shariah-compliant offerings is consistently rising and PSX has continued to grow its suite of Islamic capital market products. With this development in KiTS, all TREC-Holders can now offer shariah-compliant products to RDA clients, creating new business opportunities for them.”

Speaking on the occasion, Irfan Siddiqui said, the Meezan Bank was already offering a shariah-compliant Trading Platform for Non-Resident Pakistanis through 22 brokers which are on-boarded through their own systems. With the launch of this shariah-compliant Trading Platform, brokers who are using KiTS will also be on-boarded with Meezan Bank to further extend these services to RDA customers.