Opening a share account in Pakistan: three records and one number
A retail buyer in Pakistan does not send an order to the Pakistan Stock Exchange directly. The order goes through a broker, and the shares bought are recorded in a depository account. Opening an account therefore creates three things: the broker account, a Unique Identification Number (UIN) that identifies you to the market's clearing house, and a Central Depository Company (CDC) account that holds the shares. This page says what each does.
The broker is the door to the exchange
PSX trades through brokers that hold a trading right from the exchange. A broker opens your account, gives you the platform or the phone line for orders, and sends confirmations after each trade. Brokers are supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and answer to PSX's rules, and PSX publishes the list of its trading-right holders. Checking that list before signing up is the cheapest step in the whole process.
What differs between brokers is written on their own pages: the commission schedule, whether there is a minimum commission per trade, how deposits and withdrawals work, which app is offered, and what the account-opening documents are. This site compares none of them and prints no tariff, because a tariff is not in any source it reads.
The UIN: one number that follows you across brokers
The Unique Identification Number is issued through the National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) and is tied to the investor, not to the broker. The broker applies for it as part of opening the account, from your identity documents. If you later open an account with a second broker, the UIN is the same, which lets the clearing house see one investor behind both accounts.
In practice this means two places hold your identity: the broker's records and the NCCPL's. A trade that carries a wrong or missing UIN cannot be settled normally, so the number on your account statement and the number the broker reports should match.
The CDC account: where the shares sit in your name
Shares bought on PSX are held in electronic form at the Central Depository Company. An investor can hold them in a sub-account under the broker's participant account or in a direct investor account at CDC. In both cases the shares are recorded for you, not as the broker's own property, and the account shows the quantity held in each company.
The difference is administrative: with a sub-account the broker is your route to the depository, with a direct account you deal with CDC yourself for transfers and statements. Ask the broker which it offers and what each costs; the answer is on its page, not here.
Documents, verification and the first deposit
The documents are set by each broker within SECP rules. Identity card details, bank account details in your own name, photographs and a signature are the usual items, and some brokers allow online sign-up while others ask for a visit or a courier. Read the broker's account-opening page rather than a general list such as this one.
After approval you hold three things to keep: the broker account number, the UIN and the CDC account number. Money moves from your bank to the broker before a purchase and back after a sale; it is the broker's deposit and withdrawal rules that decide how long that takes.
A CFD account is not this account
Everything above describes buying a share of a PSX company. The FxPro account this site links to is a different product: a contract for difference on the price of global shares and indices, not a purchase of shares, and it creates no UIN and no CDC record. FxPro does not offer PSX shares at all. The FxPro page explains the difference.
A sensible order of steps
Check the broker on PSX's list — Find the company name in the list of trading-right holders the exchange publishes.
Read tariff and terms — Write down commission, any minimum per trade, other charges and how withdrawals work before you fill in anything.
Sign up and finish verification — Use the same name and numbers as on your identity card and bank account.
Keep the three numbers — Broker account, UIN and CDC account number.
Move a small amount first — A small deposit proves the route works before a larger one is sent.
Work out the quantity — The budget page shows how many shares each of the ten companies buys at the 6 November 2026 close.
Summary
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Questions before a first share
Do I need a separate account for each broker?
Yes. Each broker opens its own account for you. The UIN is the same across brokers because it identifies the investor; the CDC account may be a sub-account under each broker.
Does the UIN cost anything?
The charges are set by the broker and the clearing house. This site does not read them, so it states no amount; the broker's account-opening page lists what applies.
Are my shares the broker's property?
No. Shares bought on PSX are recorded in a CDC account for the investor. The broker handles the order and the access, but the holding is recorded at the depository.
Ready to open an account?
The account this site links to is a CFD account on global share prices, not a way to buy PSX shares. Read the difference before signing up.