CDC eliminates annual maintenance fee for sub-account holders

KARACHI: The Central Depository Company (CDC) has eliminated annual maintenance fee for sub-account holders, said a press release on Tuesday.

The CDC has also announced a full waiver of the CDS connection fee and minimum fees for securities brokers. However, to make the transaction fee equitable, the intra-account movement transaction fee has been introduced.According to the press release, the company has proposed additional reduction and rationalization in tariffs, effective from July 1, 2024. In alignment with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) vision for investor facilitation and reducing the cost of doing business, the CDC has, since its inception, reduced its transaction and custody fees by nearly 95 per cent.

Commenting on the above reductions, Chairperson of the CDC Farrukh H Sabzwari and CEO of the CDC Badiuddin Akber stated: “The CDC has consistently passed on these benefits to investors through significant tariff reductions under the visionary guidance of the CDC Board. The current tariff rationalization is in line with the CDC’s Management Strategy of reducing the cost of doing business and facilitating investors and other market players, including securities brokers.”

The two officials further mentioned that they were thankful to the SECP in this regard, especially Chairperson of the SECP Akif Saeed and Commissioner (SMD) Abdul Rehman Warraich for their continued support and encouragement towards the CDC for coming up with reforms to enhance the ease of doing business and facilitate tariff reductions and rationalisations.

Since its inception in 1997, the CDC has consistently prioritized the delivery of efficient, cost-effective services to its diverse clientele, including market participants and general investors. During the last five years, the CDC has been at the frontline of spearheading the digitization drive and has launched numerous ground-breaking initiatives in a cost-effective manner, most of them at even no cost to investors.

These include the implementation of a professional clearing member regime with the formation of a separate company named EClear Services, and the introduction of many digital solutions and services such as CDS Access; Dividend Repository; eIPO; eLOR; eVoting; e-Meeting; Zakat Repository; Emlaak Financials for mutual fund investments; and the Centralized Gateway Portal, among many other initiatives aimed at streamlining payments and business processes.