KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revised eligibility criteria for investment in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs), a circular said on Tuesday.This decision followed the government’s notification of amendments to the NPCs’ rules last week.
“In terms of amendments, eligibility criteria applicable to investors in NPCs have been revised, whereby non-resident persons, whether natural or juridical, eligible to open, operate, and maintain a Foreign Currency Value Account (FCVA), Foreign Currency Business Value Account (FCBVA), Non-Resident Pakistani Rupee Value Account (NRVA), and Non-Resident Business Rupee Value Account (NRBVA), shall be eligible to purchase the NPCs of both conventional and Sharia-compliant variants,” the SBP in the circular.
The SBP has amended the consolidated customer onboarding framework to broaden the scope of Roshan Digital Accounts. This expansion now includes all non-resident individuals and entities, including legal entities incorporated or registered abroad, who meet the definition of non-resident persons under the Income Tax Ordinance of 2001.
According to the updated framework provisions, digital onboarding is now permitted for all residents and non-residents, natural and judicial persons. However, the previous provisions restricted digital onboarding to holders of CNIC, NICOP, POC, POR or ARC.
For entity customers, SBP-regulated entities may verify the necessary information and constituent documents directly through the relevant online portal (if available) or the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) or other competent authorities. Additionally, for verification purposes, banks may obtain documents that are apostilled, consularized, or notarised, as applicable.
The SBP has taken various initiatives in recent years to promote financial inclusion, strengthen compliance culture and enhance convenience for banking customers. In order to simplify, streamline and remove interpretational ambiguities due to the existence of separate onboarding instructions for different account/customer types, the SBP has designed a consolidated customer onboarding framework to ensure efficiency in account opening and to facilitate compliance with relevant regulatory instructions while establishing new relationships.
