PSX signs agreement with NIFT for E-IPO system

Pakistan Stock Exchange and National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) signed an agreement to collaborate in the development of a new payment and registration system by PSX.

It is another important development for the capital market and for its participants to digitally transform the Initial Public Offering process through the E-IPO project, said PSX statement here on Tuesday.

The E-IPO will be an automated system connecting investors and share registrars with brokers/TRE certificate holders and banks through payment gateways including NIFT and the shares custodial company, CDC.

The digital portal will provide facility to investors (local,foreign, and institutional), TRE certificate holders, and even banks for submission of online subscription applications from anywhere in the world through the internet.

The system is connected in real-time with Central Depository Company, payment gateways (e.g. NIFT and others), and shares registrars for providing end-to-end digitalisation.

At the signing ceremony, PSX’s Managing Director and CEO, Farrukh H. Khan said the deployment of the new E-IPO system would open new avenues and expand the horizons for investors wanting to invest in new issuances through the convenience of a few clicks via the internet.

This system would bring digitalisation for investors at the front-end and would enhance the outreach of PSX, issuers and investors in terms of the IPO process as a whole. The connectivity that this system ensures between investors, share registrars, brokers, banks, gateway firms like NIFT and the shares custodians, CDC, was a great step forward for Pakistan Stock Exchange.

CEO of NIFT, Haider Wahab said Pakistan was showing strong economic outlook for 2021 and beyond with positive market sentiments in the stock market, the regulator was geared up for providing state of the art digital products and services to the local investors.

“We are extremely excited to be part of PSX initiative to bring ease of participation in IPO digitally,” he remarked.

NIFT ePay would help investors to make payments online for all the E-IPOs with a secure and seamless payment experience directly from their bank accounts expanding potential investors’ ability to digitally participate using NIFT ePay services.

The E-IPO system would not only revolutionise the way investors and other market participants take part in an IPO but would also go a long way in establishing the digitalisation of the IPO subscription process in Pakistan, he said.