Pakistan Is Now Fully Committed to Supporting Fintech Startups, Also Updates Foreign Equity Investment Policy
Arshad Mehmood Bhatti, Director, Exchange Policy Department at the
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central bank, has noted that the SBP has updated its Foreign Exchange Manual in order to facilitate local startups and Fintech firms in the country.
The manual was also updated to improve the process of handling exports from Pakistan and also to help with modernizing the foreign exchange regulations in the Asian country that’s home to around 220 million residents.
Bhatti confirmed the following updates:
“The changes include revised Equity Investment Abroad Policy, which facilitates (a) start-ups / Fintechs to establish holdco abroad to channelize investment in their operating companies, (b) exports through allowing establishment of subsidiary, branch offices, marketing offices etc, (c) acquisition of shares as sweat equity.”
Key Highlights:
By necessity, the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic forced consumers and businesses alike to adapt to an online shopping environment.
Before COVID-19, e-commerce was already growing in the top two markets, China and the US, as people became more comfortable buying goods and services online. In 2020, the pandemic significantly catalyzed changes in this space.
A June survey by e-commerce platform
Shopify (SHOP CN) found that 60% of North American shoppers had shifted more of their spending online from March to June 2020 relative to their habits before the crisis. In addition, 53% of those surveyed said that the pandemic had changed how they will shop in the future.
GameStop rally crash calms JSE
11 Feb 2021
Backlash: Demonstrators gather outside the New York Stock Exchange building to protest against trading app Robinhood amid GameStop stock chaos. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency)
The retail investor-driven rally in United States equities that cost hedge funds more than $20-billion has come to an abrupt end. This signals the end of fears that the Reddit-inspired surge in equities would spread to the JSE.
Financial market fears that the Reddit forum WallStreetBets would inspire a surge in equities as retail investors ploughed into South Africa’s most shorted stocks initially seemed to have some validity as the JSE All Share index climbed to an all-time high aided by equities such as Steinhoff.
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