What is SLB (Securities Lending & Borrowing) on the PSX?
SLB (Securities Lending and Borrowing) is NCCPL's regulated platform where holders of PSX shares lend them for a fee to borrowers — typically short sellers who must deliver shares they have sold. It is the modern, regulated successor to the informal badla financing era.
How it works
SLB lets long-term holders (funds, insurance companies) earn incremental return on idle holdings, while giving short sellers a compliant way to source deliverable shares. Lending is collateralized and centrally settled through NCCPL.
SLB activity in a symbol is circumstantial evidence of short positioning in the ready market, complementing the futures blank sale report.
Common questions
What was badla and how does SLB differ?
Badla was Pakistan's informal carry-over financing system, banned in the mid-2000s after repeated crises tied to its opacity and leverage. SLB replaces the share-borrowing function with a collateralized, centrally cleared, and disclosed mechanism.