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Central Depository Company becomes ISO 27001 certified

Central Depository Company (CDC) has been recently certified with the prestigious ISO 27001 standard, the highest Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification in the world. After this achievement, CDC is now amongst the top 3 companies in Pakistan to receive this award in the financial sector.

 

CDC has received this certification for overall depository operations including functional, technical and legal aspects. The process involved identification of areas & controls, gap analysis and development of policies & procedures. Other areas included identifying assets & associated risks and third party controls implementation. A rigorous company-wide awareness and training exercise was under taken to understand and comply with the standard. Later, an internal audit exercise was performed as well to review the implementation and compliance.

 

Awarded by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 is the only Information Security Management System (ISMS) standard accepted globally and a critical requirement for organizations with clientele comprising of public sector and corporate organizations. It was published

in October 2005 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

 

The ISMS not only specifies pre-emptive measures for information security but also specifies an effective information security incident reporting mechanism. This mechanism ensures that all security threats, whether identified by management, staff or customers are not only reported in a structured manner but also appropriate corrective/pre-emptive action is performed on the same.

 

This accreditation is a giant stride for CDC towards achieving operational excellence and maximizing customer trust & confidence in the Company’s infrastructure and security capabilities. The effort and motivation involved in achieving this standard highlights CDC’s best practices approach for the benefit of its stakeholders and capital market investors through stringent security of their information and data.

CDC implements Induction of Unpaid Rights in Central Depository System (CDS)

Karachi November 24, 2009: CDC has recently implemented the functionality for induction of Unpaid Rights into CDS. The electronic issuance and settlement of unpaid Rights will result in increased efficiency and convenience for the investors as well as Issuers.

 

Previously, Unpaid Rights could only be issued in physical form which entailed cumbersome manual processing. With the new functionality, Unpaid Rights are credited into the shareholders’ accounts in CDS in the form of a separate security just like any other security in CDS which can be easily settled and pledged.

 

Investors can subscribe, fully as well as partially, to the right issue by making the payment to the designated banker to the issue before the last payment date, after which the securities are directly credited into the accounts of shareholders making

the entire process virtually straight-through. The Rights issued in physical form can also be easily deposited into CDS through the deposit request functionality.

This recent introduction of the functionality to cater the induction of unpaid Rights through CDS will help the issuers in reducing unnecessary costs of printing and dispatching of letter of rights to the shareholders and also eliminate the manual processing relating to dispatch, verification and renunciation of Letter of Rights. As the issuance, exercise and renunciation of Rights will become virtually paperless and hassle free, it will enhance the capacity of brokers to handle large volumes.

 

Investors prior to the introduction of this functionality had to face various problems in receiving the LoRs through mail and physical settlement after trading. With the introduction of the automated process, investors would not only be saved from these common problems but also would be spared from the hassles of filling forms for subscription and renunciation of the Right Issue.

 

To ensure smooth implementation, extensive training sessions to the CDS Elements (including Registrars / Transfer Agents) have been held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

 

Since its inception, CDC has facilitated efficient processing of all corporate actions through the Central Depository System (CDS). A major step in moving towards a paperless and highly efficient capital market, this recent development points at a long-standing aspiration for the efficient handling of Unpaid Rights by the market participants, regulators and CDC alike.