There is a strong need for strengthening of regulatory environment in Pakistan for the development of a modern corporate sector, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Muhammad Ali said while addressing a press briefing at the SECP head office on Thursday.   Briefing the journalists, the SECP chairman said that it has been decided to increase the SECP’s capacity of enforcement by 200%. He said that on-site inspection of all licensed entities including brokers would be conducted annually and offsite monitoring on a quarterly basis. This will increase transparency, investor confidence and foreign portfolio investment. In the past the SECP took action against defaulters by filing criminal complaints and sometimes referring those cases to the NAB. However, in order to ensure compliance with all the relevant statutory requirements, it is necessary that offsite monitoring and onsite inspections should be regularly conducted for all licenses/licensed...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has formulated the draft Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Regulations, 2012 in order to improve the governance framework of Public Sector Companies (PSCs). These draft regulations have principally been based upon the Code of Corporate Governance, which has been customized in the context of PSCs in the light of the OECD’s Guidelines on Corporate Governance of SOEs. PSCs are public sector enterprises, operating in corporate form, which are directly or indirectly owned and controlled by the government, whether federal, provincial or local.. The draft regulations have been placed on the SECP website ( www.secp.gov.pk ) for soliciting the opinion, comments and suggestions from stakeholders and the public. These regulations have been designed in view of the distinct governance challenges faced by the PSCs in Pakistan. T he inefficiency of such companies is choking the economy and draining fiscal r...