A CFD account with FxPro

A price contract on a world share, beside a share held in your own CDC account

FxPro offers contracts for difference, including CFDs on shares of companies listed around the world and on stock indices. A CFD on a share is a contract on the price of that share: no share is bought, nothing is registered in the reader's name at any depository, and the holder has no vote and no shareholder rights. The account is with FxPro, an international broker; this site is not the broker, opens no accounts and takes no money from the reader.

A share held through a Pakistani broker, by contrast, is registered in the reader's name at the Central Depository Company, either in a sub-account under the broker or in a direct investor account. That share appears in the reader's CDC account and UIN record, and the holder has the rights of a shareholder, including voting and any dividends the company declares. A CFD on the same share is a separate contract with the broker, and its value moves with the share's price but it is not the share itself.

Why a contract has no UIN, no sub-account and no book closure

A CFD is a leveraged product and losses can be fast; the broker states that clients cannot lose more than the funds they deposited, which is a negative balance protection, and offers a free practice account. But a CFD is not recorded at the Central Depository Company and does not appear in the reader's CDC account or UIN record. No UIN is issued for it, no sub-account is opened, and there is no book closure for a dividend because the holder is not a shareholder.

Where a share CFD is offered, any dividend-related payment is a cash adjustment made by the broker around the ex-dividend date under its own contract terms; it is not a dividend paid by the company, and its size and tax treatment are set by the broker's terms, which this site does not state. The reader must read the contract specification before relying on it. A Pakistani resident who opens a CFD account deals with a foreign firm outside local supervision; FxPro is not supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

What to read in the terms before an account is opened from Pakistan

Opening an account requires identity verification, and platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, a browser platform and a mobile app. FxPro does not offer PSX shares; what the broker's account offers is a price contract on global shares and indices, which is a different thing from buying a share through a local broker and depository, which is what this site's guides describe.

A reader should read the broker's contract specification for each CFD, the negative balance protection policy, the practice account terms, and the identity verification requirements. Because the broker is not supervised by the SECP, a Pakistani resident has no local regulator to complain to, and any dispute is handled under the broker's own complaints process and its home jurisdiction. This site does not state the broker's fees, spreads or margin rates, and it does not promise that a reader will profit or that the account is safe.

FxPro is not licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. An account is opened with a company regulated outside Pakistan - the group's companies are authorised by regulators such as the FCA in the United Kingdom - so a resident here deals with a foreign firm and the protections of a locally licensed one do not apply. A contract for difference on a share is not ownership of a share and is not recorded at the Central Depository Company. Sending money abroad for trading is subject to State Bank of Pakistan foreign exchange rules. Nothing on this site is investment advice.