PSX broker Trust Securities to seek three PVARA licences
Trust Securities & Brokerage has told the Pakistan Stock Exchange it will apply to PVARA to run custody, exchange and transfer services. Its paid-up capital clears each licence's minimum on its own. Whether it clears all three together is PVARA's call.
Key takeaways
- Trust Securities & Brokerage (TSBL), a PSX-listed brokerage, told the exchange on 25 September 2026 that its board approved applying to PVARA for three licences: custody, exchange, and transfer and settlement.
- TSBL says it has started no crypto activity and will not until it holds the licences.
- Its paid-up capital of Rs750 million clears PVARA's minimum for each of the three categories, including Rs500 million for an exchange.
- PVARA has not yet opened full licensing, and it decides how capital is counted for a firm holding several licences.
What Trust Securities told the exchange
In a "Material Information" notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange dated 25 September 2026, TSBL said its board had approved the company's intention to apply to the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for licences to provide three virtual asset services: custody services, exchange services, and virtual asset transfer and settlement services. The applications, it said, are being pursued under the framework of the Virtual Assets Act, 2026.
The notice is explicit about what has not happened. The company "has not commenced any such regulated Virtual Asset Services" and will not undertake activity requiring authorisation until it has the approvals. It says the matter will go to its upcoming annual general meeting, which may require amending its memorandum and articles of association, and that it will report further developments to the exchange.
Two more notices went out the same day. One says TSBL is considering launching a series of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), which it describes as "at a preliminary stage", with no transaction concluded. The other says the board proposed raising the company's authorised share capital from Rs750 million to Rs1 billion. Shareholders vote on that at the AGM on Monday, 26 October 2026.
Does it have the capital?
PVARA's Virtual Asset Services Regulations, 2026 set a minimum paid-up capital for each licence category in Schedule-I:
| Licence TSBL wants | Minimum paid-up capital |
|---|---|
| Custody services | Rs200 million |
| Exchange services | Rs500 million |
| Transfer and settlement services | Rs200 million |
TSBL's annual accounts, filed with the exchange on 25 September 2026, show issued and paid-up capital of Rs750 million at 30 June 2026, up from Rs300 million a year earlier. Its total equity was about Rs962 million. On paid-up capital alone, it clears each category's minimum, including the exchange figure.
It is less clear-cut for all three at once. Added together, the three minimums come to Rs900 million. But the regulations do not simply add them up: regulation 31(2) leaves it to PVARA to set the method for a licensee in more than one category, including any extra "prudential add-ons" for custody, technology or market risk.
The proposed increase to Rs1 billion is in authorised capital, the ceiling on shares a company may issue. It is not new money paid in.
What still stands between TSBL and a licence
Full licensing is not open yet. As of 30 September 2026, PVARA's licensing page still describes its requirements as applying "when full licensing becomes available", and no exchange in Pakistan holds a licence. Capital is also only one condition. Schedule-I carries governance requirements, and the regulations add fit-and-proper tests for directors and liquidity rules on top.
TSBL has not said when it will file.
What this means for Pakistani users
- There is nothing to use yet. TSBL says it offers no crypto service and will not until it is licensed. Treat anyone offering "Trust Securities crypto" before then with suspicion.
- The field is widening. Until now, the names attached to PVARA's process have been global exchanges, such as Binance and HTX, which hold no-objection certificates. A domestic stockbroker, already regulated by the SECP, preparing an application is a different kind of applicant.
- A licence, when one comes, will be checkable. PVARA is required to publish a register of licensees. Our PVARA licence tracker will record the first entry.
What we're watching
- The AGM on 26 October 2026, and whether shareholders approve the capital increase and any change to the company's objects.
- A further PSX notice from TSBL confirming an application has been filed with PVARA.
- Whether other listed brokers follow, and how PVARA sets capital for multi-licence applicants under regulation 31(2).
Sources
- Trust Securities & Brokerage Ltd, Material Information notice to PSX on PVARA licences, 25 September 2026: https://dps.psx.com.pk/download/document/283490.pdf
- Trust Securities & Brokerage Ltd, Material Information notice to PSX on SPACs, 25 September 2026: https://dps.psx.com.pk/download/document/283492.pdf
- Trust Securities & Brokerage Ltd, Material Information notice to PSX on authorised capital and AGM, 25 September 2026: https://dps.psx.com.pk/download/document/283486.pdf
- Trust Securities & Brokerage Ltd, financial results for the year ended 30 June 2026, filed with PSX 25 September 2026: https://dps.psx.com.pk/download/document/283481.pdf
- Pakistan Virtual Asset Services Regulations, 2026, S.R.O. 1419(I)/2026: Schedule-I and regulation 31.
- PVARA, Licensing, checked 30 September 2026.
