The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has decided to launch formal and much-awaited trading and surveillance platform Designated Time Schedule (DTS), and increase the duration of daily share trading by 30 minutes which will be coming into effect from the upcoming Monday.
The technologically advanced trading platform has a built-in surveillance system, meaning it is capable of detecting and preventing data leakages and theft attempts. It will ensure improved security features to better safeguard investor data.
In a notification of Friday, the General Manager for Trading and TREC Affairs Jawad H Hashmi said, “Key changes to the DTS are an extension of the continuous trading session by 30 minutes, reduction in post-close session to 10 minutes and reduction in break period to one minute.”
A member of the board of directors said, “It (DTS) is a technologically advanced trading system.”
He added, “It ensures the security of investors’ data, accelerates trading speed manifold, and provides data analytics to enhance services for investors.”
Advantages of the new system
PSX bought the software (DTS) for $2.85 million from Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) before the COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan in February 2020. The test run of the system had been going on for about 10 months.
The CEO of PSX Farrukh H Khan said, “The new system works at high speed and concludes trading session (full session calculations and compilation of trading data at the end of the session) in just 30 seconds or less than a minute compared to 30 minutes that are required by the present system (KATS/Karachi Automated Trading System).
He said, “The increase in trading sessions (by 30 minutes) will definitely raise trading volumes in daily sessions.”
Khan said that the new system carried built-in surveillance software, which the existing trading platform (KATS) lacked. “The stock market performs surveillance manually by acquiring data from KATS.”
Khan highlighted that the new system would automatically address complaints of investor data leakages and theft, and would reveal which investor bought which company’s shares at what price.
In the past, some stockbrokers had alleged that officials copied and sold data on a daily basis to other stockbrokers and investors.
To address their grievances, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the PSX have conducted a number of studies to check data leakages and address complaints.
The new system will fully replace KATS, which has remained in place since 1997.
The CEO said, “We kept updating KATS as and when needed. Throughout Covid-19 lockdown, KATS enabled the PSX to operate through remote working (work from home) and we did not close the market for a single day.”
However, he pointed out that the system had become outdated and needed a replacement.
Originally, the new system was supposed to become operational by the first quarter (January-March) of 2021, however, problems arising due to the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the process of deployment, Khan revealed.
To purchase the new trading and surveillance system, the PSX had shortlisted two global stock markets including the London Stock Exchange.
