State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed all banks to enhance the utilization of the digital portal developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for the verification of companies’ documents seeking to open accounts in bank branches.

According to a circular issued to banks, SBP has stated that its regulated entities including banks and financial institutions should consider documents verified through the portal as certified true copies. It further stated that physical certified companies are no more valid for account opening purposes.

The SBP has conveyed the SECP rule of the bank that the facility of physical verification is discontinued by SECP as only digital verification would be possible going forward.

It further directed all banks to ensure the compliance of the system at the branch level and facilitate customers, including companies within the applicable legal and regulatory framework.

SBP and SECP had arranged extensive awareness campaigns earlier including regional and branch levels to emphasize the importance of companies’ data verification through the SECP portal.

SECP has been working to upgrade its digital portal which will make available the record of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), form -45, foreign companies’ data, and the option to download the details of the transactions. The SECP will charge a one-time fee to access the record of the same company by the same user of the bank within one hour.

In order to facilitate banks and companies, SECP has designated two focal persons for guidance and addressing issues.

Source: Pro Pakistani