By Tanveer Ahmed
KARACHI: Contrary to the claims of billions of rupees pledged shares' misuse by brokerage houses, a meagre amount of just Rs 103 million of the small investors is withheld with them, Chairperson National Standing Committee on Finance, Fauzia Wahab said on Wednesday.
This is in sharp contrast to National Standing Committee on Finance's directives to Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to probe alleged misuse of Rs 100 billion of investors' security deposits with the brokers. Interestingly, Fauzia Wahab also chaired the said meeting last month.
She stated this while taking to newsmen during a visit to Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).
When she was asked insistently about the progress in the said case, Fauzia categorically denied about the Rs 100 billion scam.
"This amount is only Rs 103 million," she informed. A total of 213 complaints are received in this regard, she replied when her attention was drawn to proceeding of Finance committee that she chaired last month.
The sale of pledged shares, kept by the brokers with the banks for borrowing, triggered forceful selling in the beginning of the last month. Market participants were of the view that these shares mostly belong to small investors.
A director of KSE, also endorsing the views of Fuazia Wahab, stated: "The staggering figure of Rs 100 billion is not accurate and we have given the actual figure of pledged shares to the Chairperson during the meeting."
About the meeting with KSE, she said that matters related to corporatisation and demutualisation of the stock exchanges were discussed with the exchange authorities.
"The demutualisation bill will soon be tabled in the assembly," Fauzia replied when asked about the timeframe for the approval of the bill.
"The KSE is a vibrant market and demutualisation is necessary to attract the strategic investors," she felt.
In reply to a query about the withdrawal of CVT and taxation on dividends, Fauzia said that finance committee would recommend the government to consider these issues to boost investors' confidence.
She said that meeting also discussed to enhance the small investors' base in the stock market, which currently stands between 200,000 to 250,000.
She said that it is encouraging to note that stock market, after witnessing hard times has started recovering and this resurgence has also been acknowledged by World Bank and Merrill Lynch. She also praised management of KSE for its futuristic approach to corporatise the market.
Earlier, Chairman Finance Committee accompanied by MNA and member of the committee, Rashid Godil held lengthy meeting with the management in KSE.
KARACHI: Contrary to the claims of billions of rupees pledged shares' misuse by brokerage houses, a meagre amount of just Rs 103 million of the small investors is withheld with them, Chairperson National Standing Committee on Finance, Fauzia Wahab said on Wednesday.
This is in sharp contrast to National Standing Committee on Finance's directives to Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to probe alleged misuse of Rs 100 billion of investors' security deposits with the brokers. Interestingly, Fauzia Wahab also chaired the said meeting last month.
She stated this while taking to newsmen during a visit to Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).
When she was asked insistently about the progress in the said case, Fauzia categorically denied about the Rs 100 billion scam.
"This amount is only Rs 103 million," she informed. A total of 213 complaints are received in this regard, she replied when her attention was drawn to proceeding of Finance committee that she chaired last month.
The sale of pledged shares, kept by the brokers with the banks for borrowing, triggered forceful selling in the beginning of the last month. Market participants were of the view that these shares mostly belong to small investors.
A director of KSE, also endorsing the views of Fuazia Wahab, stated: "The staggering figure of Rs 100 billion is not accurate and we have given the actual figure of pledged shares to the Chairperson during the meeting."
About the meeting with KSE, she said that matters related to corporatisation and demutualisation of the stock exchanges were discussed with the exchange authorities.
"The demutualisation bill will soon be tabled in the assembly," Fauzia replied when asked about the timeframe for the approval of the bill.
"The KSE is a vibrant market and demutualisation is necessary to attract the strategic investors," she felt.
In reply to a query about the withdrawal of CVT and taxation on dividends, Fauzia said that finance committee would recommend the government to consider these issues to boost investors' confidence.
She said that meeting also discussed to enhance the small investors' base in the stock market, which currently stands between 200,000 to 250,000.
She said that it is encouraging to note that stock market, after witnessing hard times has started recovering and this resurgence has also been acknowledged by World Bank and Merrill Lynch. She also praised management of KSE for its futuristic approach to corporatise the market.
Earlier, Chairman Finance Committee accompanied by MNA and member of the committee, Rashid Godil held lengthy meeting with the management in KSE.
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