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Yearly Archives: 2014

EFU Life and CDC sign Memorandum of Understanding

Posted on December 1, 2014 - 3:36 pm by

EFU Life Assurance Limited and Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to mutually benefit each other by providing differentiated services to their customer base. CDCis the only depositary in Pakistan and EFU Life is a leading life insurance provider of the country.

 

The signing ceremony was held at CDC House Karachi in presence of senior officials from both organizations including Mr. Taher G. Sachak, CEO & MD and Mr. Mohammed Ali Ahmed, Executive Director from EFU Life. CDC was represented at the session by Muhammad Hanif Jakhura, CEO-CDC, Mr. Fazal Hussain Gaffoor, CFO & Company Secretary and Mr. Shariq Naseem, Assistant General Manager, Product Development & Marketing.

 

Mr. Muhammad Hanif Jakhura, CEO-CDC while speaking at the event said, “Central Depository Company has a legacy of partnering with leading organizations both in Pakistan and abroad for the betterment of respective industry sectors and collaborating for better access to markets and customers.

 

CDC’s partnership with EFU Life is yet another strategic partnership and we look forward to availing its benefits in near future.”

 

EFU Life MD & CEO Mr. Taher G. Sachak, while speaking on the occasion said, “

EFU Life is proud to enter into this partnership with CDC. This collaboration will be first of its kind where insurance solutions will be offered to CDC customers and simultaneously CDC can increase its outreach by utilizing our distribution network.”

Swiss Consulate Officials visit Central Depository Company

Posted on November 27, 2014 - 7:12 am by

A delegation from the Consulate General of Switzerland comprising of Mr. Roger M. Kull (Deputy Head of Mission), Mr. Emil Wyss (Consul General) and Mr. Jordan James Din (Head of Commercial Section) visited Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited at its head office on 27th November 2014.

 

Mr. Muhammad Hanif Jakhura, CEO-CDC and senior management of CDC welcomed the delegation, who were apprised about the performance of Pakistan Capital Market in recent years. They were also informed about CDC’s businesses, investor awareness & cultivation initiatives, IT infrastructure and CSR activities.

 

The Swiss Consulate Team greatly appreciated the efforts of CDC in the development of Pakistan Capital Market.

CDC introduces eDividend facility

Posted on October 1, 2014 - 7:12 am by

Continuing the trend of being at the forefront of innovation in capital market development, the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited became the pioneering institution in the country to introduce eDividend facility. This service enables issuers to electronically credit dividend amounts into bank accounts of shareholders directly without the need of any paper formalities or manual effort.

 

The first such transaction was executed for the dividend of Lucky Cement Limited through its banking partner. Innovative offering of services like this has enabled CDC to achieve another milestone in Share Registrar Services after exceeding 100 clients in a short span of time.

CDC’s Trustee & Custodial Services achieves 100 funds

Posted on July 1, 2014 - 7:05 am by

Central Depository Company’s Trustee and Custodial Services department has recently achieved 100 funds under its client umbrella with aggregated net assets of more than Rs. 177 billion.

 

Recently KASB Capital Protected Gold Fund and NIT Income Fund joined CDC for its trustee services taking the count of mutual funds under CDC’s trusteeship to 100 funds. With this achievement, CDC has reiterated its position as the market leader in private sector. Since its launch in 2002, CDC Trustee and Custodial Services has become the preferred choice of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) and Pension Fund Managers due to excellent service quality, professionalism, apt business knowledge and adherence to rules & regulations.

 

The prime responsibility of CDC as the trustee/custodian is to take into its custody all assets of the Collective Investment Scheme and hold them in trust on behalf of the unit or certificate holders. Additionally, CDC carries out the instructions of the Asset Management Company, investment adviser and pension fund manager in respect of the investment portfolio and the units/certificates held by the investors. CDC also ensures that the scheme is being managed in accordance with the provisions of the constitutive documents, the NBFC Rules, the Regulations and Voluntary Pension Scheme (VPS) Rules.

 

Recently, CDC has taken a step forward by indigenously developing a comprehensive Fund Management System (FMS) for its Trustee and Custodial Services clientele. FMS is an electronic system that creates automated interface between all its elements to ensure Straight through Processing (STP) for settlement of transactions. It establishes an online link between the T&C Department at CDC and AMCs & Settling Banks through online transmission of instructions from fund managers to trustee and management of electronic pay & collect system through banking channels. The implementation of FMS has eliminated manual processes and duplication of work and has helped minimize chances of errors. Through this system, AMCs can pass online instructions of unit management to the CDC Trustee and Custodial department. FMS provides a single link through which funds can complete transactions as well as avoid multiple individual connections that are costly and inefficient.

Central Depository Company conducts Investor Awareness Seminars in upcountry

Posted on March 22, 2014 - 6:57 am by

After a successful campaign in Karachi and Hyderabad, CDC conducted Investor Awareness Seminars in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Faisalabad from 16th to 22nd March 2014. These seminars were organized particularly in the context of current regulatory initiatives where subscriptions of CDC Access SMS and Email Alerts have been made mandatory by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan. This initiative was also taken in line with CDC’s belief that an informed investor is more enabled to keep his investment secure. The audience was briefed about CDC’s role, responsibilities and service offerings. The free-of-cost CDC access portfolio was also introduced. Investors were apprised about their role, responsibilities and rights as well.

 

Constructive criticism from the attendees included a demand that all Capital Market entities should conduct collaborative programs so that all the stakeholders can come under one roof and discuss concerns, opportunities and challenges. According to them such acts of solidarity will quash uncertainty, doubts and rumors which always surround the capital market, giving investors the feel-good factor that their investment portfolios are in safe hands. It was also suggested that mechanisms and processes that ratify the Broker’s trustworthiness should be devised. Officials from SECP and ISE also attended the seminar held in Islamabad.

 

The attendees in almost all cities also stressed that CDC should show presence on a monthly basis in the form of day-long sessions or IPV desks. All the queries and concerns were dealt with expertly by the CDC team.

CDC to provide Settlement services for Government Securities traded on KSE’s Bond Trading System

Posted on February 18, 2014 - 6:37 am by

Being at the forefront of capital market development since its inception, CDC has introduced a number of initiatives and undertaken many challenges.  Recently, another major milestone was marked in the ever-progressing timeline of CDC with the initiation of settlement of Government Securities through KSE’s bond trading platform. This is a substantial development for Pakistan Capital Market as for the first time the retail segment will have a liquid and direct platform for trading in Government Securities through KSE’s Bond Automated Trading System (BATS).

KSE undertook this project at the initiative of the honorable Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization, Mr. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who had urged the management of KSE and SBP to lay the groundwork. A committee was then established comprising of the senior most representatives of CDC, KSE, NCCPL, SECP and SBP as well as the leading money market brokers and banks. After much deliberation, the operational framework for the initiative was established. A key element to this endeavor was SBP conferring upon CDC special participant status in the Pakistan Real-time Inter-bank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). The stepping stone for this was the launch of Investment Portfolio Services (IPS) by CDC whereby investors can open IPS accounts (directly maintained at CDC for investment) in GoP securities. CDC is the only non-banking institution to be given this capacity.

 

All trades take place on BATS, which is a trading platform developed by KSE for the trading of fixed income securities. Prior to the launch of this service, trading in government securities was done over-the-counter, and the retail involvement was negligible. The BATS platform will provide the transparency and liquidity which are essential in order to accommodate the retail segment in this ground-breaking initiative.

Formal trading began with a soft launch on January 31, 2014 at the KSE premises. Later, the official launch of the service took place on February 18, 2014 in Karachi at a local hotel. The invitees included senior management from CDC, KSE, Pakistan Capital Market and the banking sector. The guest of honor was the honorable finance minister, Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar, who held the honors of the gong ceremony.

Government Securities are issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on behalf of Ministry of Finance. These securities are considered low-risk primarily due to the fact they have sovereign guarantee of the government. Currently, this facility extends to three types of securities which include:

  • Treasury Bills: Short-term zero-coupon instruments that are issued at discount with maturities of 3-month, 6-month and 1-year.
  • Pakistan Investment Bonds: Long term bonds which pay fixed semi-annual coupon in addition to repayment of principal at maturity. They are issued at maturities of 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 30 years.
  • Ijara Sukuk: A Shariah-compliant Islamic floating and semi-annual coupon bond.

Investors wishing to trade in government securities need to open their IPS accounts with CDC by submitting the account opening form along with fulfilling all the necessary formalities. A key feature of this facility is a facilitation agreement which needs to be signed between CDC and all the relevant parties involved (investor and broker). In addition to this, another integral aspect of this service is that trades are only executed for good value positions. This means that investors need to ensure availability of funds or securities prior to execution of the trade. All trades will be on a delivery versus payment mode, i.e. delivery will be only against actual payment received.

CDC has always strived for the development of financial markets and this initiative by KSE is one of the many that are testament to its vision. By investing in government securities, investors can have the comfort of risk-free returns through an efficient and effective framework that allows them to maintain control and broaden their investment horizon.