Pakistan Stock Exchange was established on September 18, 1947 and was formally incorporated on March 10, 1949 under the name of ‘Karachi Stock Exchange’, as a Company limited by Guarantee. In October 1970, a second stock exchange was established in Lahore to meet the stock trading needs of the provincial metropolis. In October 1989, Islamabad Stock Exchange was established to cater to the investors of the northern parts of the country. Because the three exchanges had separate management, trading interfaces, indices, and had no mutualized structure, therefore the Stock Exchanges (Corporatization, Demutualization and Integration) Act, 2012 was promulgated by the Government of Pakistan which ultimately resulted in the 3 exchanges merging their operations effective January 11, 2016 under the new name ‘Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited’ (PSX).
The PSX has made significant strides in its history, having a small presence of 5 listed companies initially with a total paid-up capital of Rs 37 Mn. In 1960 there were 81 companies with a market capitalization of Rs 1.8 Bn whereas now there are 559 companies listed in the bourse with a market capitalization of Rs 8.7 Tn. The listed companies are distributed amongst 35 sectors/ groups of industries.
PSX aspires to be one of the leading Exchanges of the world having an enviable record of being the best performing Stock Exchange in Asia. In recent past PSX had an All Index Growth of 26% Annual CAGR from 2012-2017. PSX aims to reclaim that status and has plans in place to make it a robust and efficient Stock Exchange at par or above par with other Stock Exchanges in the world. It is at the forefront of Pakistan’s economy, being the only major institution helping capital formation in the country. Pakistan Stock Exchange has in place functional and operational capabilities at par with any global Stock Exchange with robust trading systems (e.g.: KATS-Karachi Automated Trading System, KITS-Internet based order routing system, BATS-Bonds Automated Trading System), IT security systems, and a progressive regulatory framework. Currently, 7 indices are listed on PSX as follows:
The objective of PSX is to provide a safe, reliable, efficient and consistent marketplace where investors can buy and sell common stock of listed companies and other securities. For over 60 years, the Exchange has facilitated capital formation, serving a wide spectrum of participants, including individual and institutional investors, the trading community and listed companies.
