The Central Depository Company (CDC), prompted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), today revealed a substantial fee relief programme for unlisted companies now required to convert traditional paper-based shares into a digital format.
Under the new package, companies with a paid-up capital of up to Rs. 25 million will benefit from a full waiver of their annual fee for the initial year. This is in addition to exemptions on the security deposit fee, initial conversion deposit, and security deposit processing fee, which apply to all unlisted entities for the same one-year period.
For larger unlisted firms, those with paid-up capital exceeding Rs. 25 million, the relief entails a waiver of the security deposit and all conversion-related charges for the first year, although they will still be obligated to pay the standard annual fee.
The financial incentives are also extended to unlisted corporations that choose to voluntarily digitise their physical shares into the Book-Entry Form with the CDC.
This initiative follows the recent issuance of SRO 328(I)/2026 by the SECP, which mandates that unlisted companies must convert their physical shares to the book-entry system before conducting future share-related transactions.
The regulatory requirement is triggered by activities such as the transfer of shares, the issuance of bonus or right shares, the issuance of shares other than by rights, and any share buy-back operations.
The overarching goal of this measure is to ease the transition for unlisted businesses into the Central Depository System (CDS). It is designed to lower the financial burden of conversion and foster a more secure, efficient, and paperless environment for shareholding.