Roshan Digital Business Value Account is a separate special category account introduced by the State Bank of Pakistan to facilitate business entities incorporated abroad with majority shareholding of non-resident Pakistanis and/or Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card (POC) holders.

Business registered outside Pakistan / entities incorporated abroad with majority shareholding of non- resident Pakistanis and/or Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card (POC) holders are eligible to open a Roshan Digital Business Value Account.

The purpose of a Roshan Digital Business Value Account is to facilitate business entities incorporated  abroad with majority shareholding of non-resident Pakistanis and/or Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card  (POC) holders to conduct business transactions and avail investment opportunities in Pakistan. 

The benefits of a Roshan D Business Value Account include the ability to conduct business transactions  in Pakistan, ease of repatriation, and exemption from certain taxes and regulations.

The documents required to open a Roshan Digital Business Value Account include the usual documents  required to open a Business account, as well as proof of incorporation/registration of the business entity,  tax registration, details of the majority shareholding of non-resident Pakistanis. 

Juridical persons/entities incorporated/registered outside Pakistan under the relevant laws of the  respective jurisdiction, majority owned and controlled by NRPs and/or Non-Resident POC Holders can  open an account. 

Non-resident Pakistanis and/or Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card (POC) holders authorized by the entity  through Board resolution/Partnership deed / Trust deed are only authorized to open and Operate the  Business account. Note: No nationality other than Non-resident Pakistani or POC holders are allowed to  operate the account.

Such entities can authorize an NRP or Non-Resident POC Holder to process the account opening  through the bank’s website/application.

Bank Alfalah offers the Roshan Digital Account in both current and saving variants, which can be opened  in the following categories:  

Pakistani Rupees (PKR) & Foreign Currency (FCY), which includes: • US Dollar (USD) • Euro (EUR) • Great  British Pound (GBP) • UAE Dirham (AED) • Saudi Riyal (SAR) • Canadian Dollar (CAD) • Australian Dollar (AUD)

The following information is required: 

∙ Entity name 

∙ Details of incorporation/registration 

∙ Details of tax registration 

∙ List of persons associated with the customer 

∙ Customer’s registered address, mailing address (reason if different from registered address), and  place of business (reason if different from registered or mailing address) 

∙ Contact details 

∙ Nature of customer’s business 

∙ Purpose of account and intended nature of the business relationship 

∙ For trusts and other legal arrangements – objects of trust, description of class of beneficiaries (if  applicable) 

 The list of persons associated with the customer includes: 

∙ Natural persons authorized to open and/or operate the account 

∙ Beneficial owners having 20% or more shareholding/ownership of customer (10% or more in case  of accounts requiring Enhanced Due Diligence) directly or through intermediary legal entities.

∙ Members of ultimate governing body (e.g. Board of Directors, Trustees, etc.)

∙ For trusts and other legal arrangements – the settlor, the protector (if any), the beneficiaries, and  any other natural person exercising ultimate effective control over the trust, as applicable. 

 Including the nature of customer’s business helps the bank to understand the customer’s business  activities, licensing, scope of activities, business alliances in Pakistan, and countries of operations (as applicable). This information assists in risk assessment and enables the bank to comply with regulatory  requirements. 

Bank Alfalah requires this information for trusts and other legal arrangements to understand the  objectives and beneficiaries of the trust. This helps in assessing the risk associated with the customer and  enables the bank to comply with regulatory requirements

 The following documents will be required to open Roshan Digital Account: 

∙ Copy of applicable documents as required in Annex-A of the Framework for Remote/Digital  Account Opening of Non-Resident Legal Entities issued by State Bank of Pakistan. ∙ Original scanned CNIC/NICOP/POC/Passport (first 2 pages only) or valid Identity Document of  other country (only for foreign nationals) 

∙ Proof of non-resident status, e.g. scanned copy of POC, visa, entry/exit stamps, etc. (only from  non-residents) 

∙ Live photo of the persons authorized to open and operate the account, to be obtained through  the App/ web portal. 

∙ Signature (Wet/Digital/Electronic) or any other authentication method recommended by the  bank 

∙ Multifactor authentication to verify the persons authorized to open and operate the account ∙ Any mechanism recommended by the bank (e.g. CAPTCHA) to determine that the applicant is not  a bot 

The person processing the account opening for a Roshan Digital Account must provide the following  declarations: 

∙ Digital/ online undertaking declaring their non-resident status 

∙ Digital/ online undertaking declaring that he/ she is duly authorized by the customer to open the  account 

∙ Digital/ online consent for use of information/ documents provided through the above process  for all due diligence and supervisory functions. 

The customer is required to make the following declarations: 

∙ Declaration that the funds invested/used through the account belong to the customer and not to  any other person 

∙ Consent from all persons associated with the customer to use information/documents for all due  diligence and supervisory functions

∙ Acceptance of the account’s Terms & Conditions 

∙ Declaration to inform the bank about any material change in the customer’s information,  including any change in beneficial ownership of the customer, and provide necessary documents  to the bank within the stipulated time.

When declaring that the funds used in the account are the customer’s own, the customer is certifying  that the funds are not beneficially owned by any other person.

The bank requires consent from all persons associated with the customer to use information/documents for all due diligence and supervisory functions to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information provided and to comply with the regulatory requirements.

Informing the bank about any material change in the customer’s information is important because it helps the bank to maintain accurate and up-to-date information about the customer and comply with regulatory requirements. It also ensures that the bank can properly assess any potential risks associated with the account.

The bank must assess the money laundering/terrorist financing risks posed by the customer and verify their information and constituent documents from reliable sources such as public registers or directly through the online portal/website of the issuing authority. If verification is not possible, notarized/consularized copies of documents can be obtained through the website/application.
Additionally, the bank must require the customer to remit the initial deposit from their bank account with the same title maintained in their home jurisdiction (i.e. customer’s country of incorporation/registration). The bank must also carry out due diligence for each person associated with the customer, including verification of CNIC/NICOP/POC through NADRA Verisys and screening against applicable sanctions regimes.

Yes, the bank may carry out and record a video call with the applicant customer while carrying out CDD process for opening the account.

The bank shall ensure the data/ privacy protection, safety and security of information/ documents through reliable IT infrastructure.

Yes, the bank may carry out periodical re-profiling of the customers in accordance with their Risk Management framework, including turnover in the account.

If a customer becomes ineligible subsequently, relevant controls may be applied as provided in Chapter 6 and Chapter 8 of the FE Manual defined by State Bank of Pakistan

(i) Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
(ii) Limited Companies/ Corporations
(iii) Trusts, Societies, Associations
(iv) NGOs/ NPOs/ Charities 

The required documents are: (i) Limited Liability Partnership Deed/ Agreement, (ii) LLP-Registration  Certificate issued by competent authority in home jurisdiction, (iii) Document having details of partners/  designated partners, and (iv) Authority letter signed by all partners, authorizing the person(s) to open and  operate LLP account

The required documents are: (i) Memorandum of Association, (ii) Articles of Association, (iii) Certificate  of Incorporation, and (iv) Resolution of Board of Directors for opening of account specifying the person(s)  authorized to open and operate the account (not applicable for Single Member Company).

 The required documents are: (i) All relevant Incorporation/ Registration documents as per Sr. No. 2 or  Sr. No. 3 depending on legal structure of NGO/ NPO/ Charity, (ii) Valid registration with relevant authority  in Pakistan (Ministry of Interior, Economic Affairs Division, etc.) as per applicable law, rules or policy, and  (iii) Annual accounts/ financial statements or disclosures in any form, which may help to ascertain the  detail of its activities, sources and usage of funds in order to assess the risk profile of the prospective  customer

The bank will ensure that the total time taken from the submission of account opening request along  with complete documents by the customer to the final decision regarding onboarding the customer or  otherwise, is not more than 10 working days. However, this time period may be extended up to 30 days  for customers incorporated/registered in jurisdictions where online digital verification is not available.

No, the bank is required to inform the customer of any costs or fees associated with their account at  the time of account opening. The bank’s schedule of charges is also made available on their website for  customers to refer to.

The bank shall ensure 24/7 helpline/helpdesk to facilitate customers/potential customers and that their  staff involved in digital account opening, including call center staff, is sufficiently trained.

The permissible credits to the account include remittances received from abroad through banking  channels, transfer of funds from its own NRBVA maintained in PKR with the same Bank, profit, mark-up,  return or proceeds of sale or maturity of permissible investments made from FCBVA, and reversal of any  erroneous debit from FCBVA. 

The permissible debits from the account include investment in permissible securities, transfer of funds  to its own NRBVA maintained in PKR with the same Bank, transfer to any other FCY or PKR account,  remittance or payments to the extent of balance available therein without any prior approval of the State  Bank of Pakistan, and reversal of any erroneous credit entry.

The eligible investment products for the account include FCY-denominated Government of Pakistan’s registered debt securities and FCY-denominated term deposit/remunerative product scheme of the same Bank. The funds for the investments shall be transferred by the Banks only in the eligible products, through the instructions received from the authorized account operator in this behalf.

No, companies registered in countries subject to sanctions, their associated partners and sponsors from sanctioned countries cannot open an account through RDA business given the legal, regulatory & international sanctions regime. The list of sanctioned countries may be updated from time to time.