Investors get CDSC charge waivers during service week – Business Daily
Central Depository and Settlement Corporation CEO Nkoregamba Mwebesa. NMG PHOTO
The Central Depository and Settlement Corporation Limited (CDSC) has waived commissions and charges for retail investors for a section of its services during the customer service week which runs until Friday.
The depository said that it will waive fees for security transfers, interim statements, pledges, and share releases, but will only apply to the fees directly payable to it, and not those due to other market players such as stockbrokers and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
The move by the depository mirrors efforts by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) that has been offering fees relief on new products such as day trading to stimulate uptake and improve the liquidity of the market.
The stock market has in recent years recorded reduced trading activity —largely due to depressed share prices — which has hit intermediaries and facilitators such as the NSE and the CDSC hard, given their dependence on commissions generated from investor trades.
“Local retail investors account for about 94 percent of the total number of CDS account holders served by the CDSC. Whilst it is widely known that most of these investors are currently inactive in the market, we firmly believe that they are critical to the short and long-term growth of our market,” said CDSC chief executive Nkoregamba Mwebesa.
“This initiative is a small token of appreciation that affirms our commitment to being a valued partner in their wealth acquisition and preservation aspirations.”
For security transfers investors will enjoy a waiver of Sh200 per transfer for own accounts or Sh1,000 to nominee accounts.
They will also get exemption for the Sh1,000 levy upon making share pledges in the period, while those seeking interim account statements will save Sh50 for the first two pages and Sh50 per page for the subsequent pages.
→ [email protected]
