ISLAMABAD – Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) officially pulled the plug on the old practice of physical share certificates. With end of paper ownership, the digital revolution is next thing to go.
As per SECP’s latest move, Unlisted companies are now allowed from issuing physical share certificates. If your shares are not in the Central Depository System (CDS), they effectively do not exist for the market.
Any company that has not shifted to Book-Entry (Digital) Form is now frozen. Buying, selling, transferring, or even issuing bonus shares is strictly prohibited until the digital transformation is complete. Shareholders who fail to convert their paper to digital will find themselves “locked out” of their own investments, unable to participate in any corporate transactions.
Authorities are framing this as massive win for security, aiming to wipe out the “dark ages” of lost, stolen, or forged certificates that have clogged Pakistani courts with endless litigation for decades. Companies must cancel and preserve the old physical certificates for 10 years—a final graveyard for the paper trail.
Every single allotment, buy-back, and transfer is now under the digital microscope of the Central Depository Company (CDC). There is no middle ground
With these developments. there will be no more “ghost” shareholders. Every entry is tracked in real-time. Settlements that took weeks will now happen at the click of a button. Specialized procedures are being set up for “troubled” shares or disputes—but the message is clear: Convert or be left behind.
