The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has observed that some capital market individuals are using the print/electronic/social media for giving their views/ opinions to induce the general public to trade on the stock exchange. These persons are neither qualified nor possess the requisite expertise/skill to furnish such opinions. As these views are not supported by any research and data, it encourages rumors that affect the overall investment sentiments. Misleading views of few individuals tantamount to inducing public, based on deceptive information, for investing in securities. Any such said activity by any person is prohibited in terms of Securities Act, 2015, the framework governing stock market trading.    While SECP encourages conducive regulatory environment for sustainable growth of capital markets, it is also responsible to maintain integrity and efficiency of the stock market. SECP is closely monitoring the market activities on regular b...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has been undertaking a reform agenda to revitalize the capital market and promote expansion of investor base. It is felt that small and medium sized brokerage houses, alongside large ones, have a critical role to play in this regard. Based on representations received from various stakeholders including small sized brokers and recommendations of the Stock Market Reforms Committee, the SECP has issued a concept paper to introduce categorization of brokers for addressing the issue of custody of client assets. This concept is in line with international best practices and tailored to local market requirements. In the proposed regime, in order to provide maximum facilitation to small sized brokers, which would be categorized as Trading Only brokers and shall not retain custody of client assets, the minimum capital requirements for a brokerage licence are being reduced to Rs.15 million. Further, such brokers shall have th...

The SECP’s Enforcement Department— while enforcing compliance of corporate and allied laws— initiated 86 show-cause proceedings and concluded 54 proceedings against chief executives, directors and auditors of companies in February and March. While facilitating companies to strengthen their capital base, the department allowed three listed companies to issue shares by way of otherwise than right at a discount and at par.  In order to strengthen the existing regime of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting, the SECP has joined hands with the ICAP for the external assurances of the CSR reports.  CSR reports assist organizations in understanding and communicating their vision of combining a company’s profitability with social responsibility and environmental care. Both the SECP and the ICAP have reaffirmed their commitment to developing a framework for external assurance in accordance with prominent international assurance standards, and within a mutually agre...

The development of transparent and efficient securities market is one of the prime objectives of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Accordingly, Securities Market Division of the SECP took enforcement actions and penalized the market participants for non-compliance with the regulatory framework during the month of March. Subsequent to the onsite inspections, enforcement actions were taken against three brokerage houses of the Karachi Stock Exchange Limited. A penalty of Rs500,000 was imposed on KASB Securities Limited primarily for   failure to maintain segregation of clients’ assets by the brokerage house. Moreover, a   penalty of Rs100,000 was imposed on   DJM Securities (Private) Limited  because of  irregularities identified in the calculation of net capital balance. Furthermore, a warning letter was issued to Time Securities (Private) Limited in the same context. In addition, 12 orders were passed for late filing of re...

With year-end right around the corner, participation remained dull at the bourse. The benchmark index rose by mere 3 points to close at 25370.03 level compared to 25366.69 points of the previous day. Equity dealer at Topline Securities Asad Siddiqui said positive momentum continued in the cement sector and specially in FCCL, out of 17 listed stocks in the sector 12 closed in the green zone while one remained unchanged.  On the other hand, profit-taking was seen in oil and gas sector while some pressure was seen in fertilizer stocks barring Engro, which closed with gains of 3pc. FCCL, PTC and PAEL made up for the top 3 volume leaders with trade of 16.7m, 10.2m and 9.7m shares, respectively. KSE-Allshare index shed by 30.02 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 18690.70 points, KSE-30 share index off by 8.19 points or 0.04 percent to close the day at 18941.99 points while KMI-30 share index misplaced 69.59 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 42739.21 points.   T...

The Karachi stock market on the last trading day of the week Friday made an intraday high of 25,000 points for the first time in the history of Pakistan and closed below the said level with a rise of 70 points. Analysts cited hopes for improved Indo-Pak bilateral relations and interest of international investors in setting up power plants in Pakistan as the main reasons for the positive trend. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 69.86 points or 0.28 percent to close at 24,870.55 points as compared to previous session’s 24,800.69 points. The KSE 30-share index rose 10.48 points to close at 18,624.99 points as against 18,614.514 points.   “After testing the psychological level of 25,000 points the index was seen scaling back to close at 24,870 points,” said Habib Metropolitan Financial Services’ Muhammad Sultan. “During the second session the index pared gains posted earlier in the day, largely driven by profit-taking by risk averse investor...

The election of directors of the companies is held in general meetings, on completion of the term of office of directors after every three years as laid down in Sections 178 and 180 of the 1984 Companies Ordinance. The SECP has received many queries from the companies that the date of election of directors coincides with the forthcoming Eid-ul-Adha holidays. The SECP in this regard clarifies that if the date of election of directors of a company overlaps with the holidays, the company can hold the election of its directors immediately after the official holidays. Besides the election of directors, if any other requirement of the Companies Ordinance, which is time-constrained and its deadline coincides with the holidays, the companies are advised to comply with the respective statutory requirement, immediately after the holidays. The SECP has taken this decision to facilitate companies and encourage participation of maximum shareholders in the general meeting convened fo...

The Bank of Punjab (BoP) has posted 146 percent yearly increase to Rs 1.00 billion profit after tax (PAT) in first half of 2013 as compared to Rs 405.5 million PAT in the same period of last year. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs 1.90 in first half of 2013 as compared to EPS of 77 paisas in the corresponding period of 2012, according to the company’s notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Friday. The company announced its financial results for half year and second quarter period that ended on June 30, 2013, where the company’s board of directors has not recommended final cash dividend and bonus shares to its shareholders for the half-year period that ended on June 30, 2013. However, on quarterly basis the BoP witnessed a massive increase in profitability by 155 percent to Rs 672.9 million PAT with EPS of Rs 1.90 in second quarter (April to June) of 2013 as compared to Rs 268.1 million PAT with EPS of 51 paisas in the corresponding period of last years....

Karachi Stocks closed record high led by second and third tier stocks on strong valuations. Sentiments remained bullish ahead of quarter-end earning announcements due next week. The Karachi stock market benchmark KSE-100 share index added 22.59 points or 0.12 percent to end the day at 18,636.03 points compared to 18,613.44 points of the previous day.  Stock analyst Ahsan Mehanti said consolidation in blue chips stocks continued amid concerns for fall in global commodities. Strong data on urea, DAP and cement sales for Mar ‘13, speculations ahead of upcoming SBP policy announcement and expectations of higher LDI revenues for telecom sector played a catalyst role in higher close at KSE amid concerns for rising circular debt issues in energy sector outcome for CCP levy on fertilizer companies on collusion and increasing urea prices. KSE-Allshare index up by 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to end the day at 13,209.70 points, KSE-30 share index increased by 25.38 points or 0.17 ...

The  Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) conducted an awareness session on  the 2012 Code of Corporate Governance at the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE). It was held in collaboration with the ISE and was attended by CEOs, CFOs, company secretaries and internal auditors of companies listed at the ISE. The session opened with the brief remarks by Mian Ayaz Afzal, Managing Director, ISE, followed by a presentation by the SECP highlighting the revised code and a presentation by the ISE on compliance and enforcement of the code and a question-and-answer session. Mr. Imtiaz Haider, Commissioner, Securities Market Division, SECP, highlighted the salient features of the revised code and the need for improving corporate governance standards to promote a vibrant capital market. He also touched on various initiatives to promote governance that the SECP has or is currently working on such as introducing the Code of Corporate Governance for SOEs, e-dividend, e-vot...

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Friday approved the Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines, 2013 aimed at encouraging body corporate to align their business strategies with their social responsibilities. The Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines is a preliminary step towards introducing broad parameters for accountability and reporting of CSR activities. These Guidelines are being published as guidance document for all companies. Under the Guidelines, Board of Directors of registered entities are encouraged to take ownership for formulation, adoption and implementation of CSR policy of a company. The Guidelines recommend that CSR policy be fully endorsed by Board of Directors of Company and that such policy is embedded in the vision and strategy of the company. CSR governance benchmark table has been added at the end of Guidelines that shall facilitate companies to assess their performance and for peer review. Prese...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has issued a notification under Section 15D of the 1969 Securities and Exchange Ordinance read with section 40B of the 1997 Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act to specify the manner and form for the disclosure of inside information by the listed companies and by the persons discharging managerial responsibilities in listed companies. The notification will result in clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the company as well as the person possessing the information. It also describes the obligation of stock exchanges with respect to dissemination of information so that no person takes undue advantage of the inside information. Now the Commission will be in a better position to prosecute the persons involved in insider trading as the presence of newly introduced statutory obligation will restrain the persons alleged of insider trading from citing legal justifications for their illegal acts in the presence...

The board of directors (BoD) of MCB Bank Ltd has declared final cash dividend of Rs 3 and 10 percent bonus shares, in addition to interim cash dividends of Rs 10 already paid for the year ended December 31, 2012, a statement of the bank said on Thursday. Earnings per share (EPS) for the year came to Rs 22.77 as compared to Rs 21.12 for December 31, 2011. Return on assets came to 2.95 percent, return on equity was recorded at 25.07 percent and book value per share improved to Rs 95.84. The BoD met under the chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha to review the performance of the bank and approve the financial statements. For the year 2012, the bank reported profit before tax of Rs 32.054 billion and profit after tax of Rs 20.941 billion with an increase of 2.0 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively. Total assets of MCB Bank Limited grew by 17 percent to Rs 765.899 billion. The analysis of the asset mix highlights 27 percent increase in investments to Rs 402.069 billion ...

In order to provide maximum facilitation to investors and to bring more transparency and accuracy to the KYC (Know Your Client) process, the SECP has taken the initiative of establishing a Centralized KYC Organization (CKO) and has designated the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) to function as the CKO. The CKO shall develop a centralized web-based system named KYC Information System and maintain separate and exclusive database for the storage of KYC information entered by the market intermediaries.  At present, all entities in the capital market are performing registration/account opening process for their clients separately, which leads to duplication of effort and waste of resources. At the same time investors desirous of opening accounts with different intermediaries for the purpose of trading/investing/dealing in the capital market have to repeatedly undergo the KYC process. The CKO shall develop a centralized web-based system named KYC Inf...

 The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has established a task force to identify weaknesses and gaps in the current protection mechanism for the shareholders of the companies and suggest ways and means to overcome these through shareholder activism. The decision has come in the light of the prevalent international practices. In Malaysia, Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) or Badan Pengawas Pemegang Saham Minoriti Berhad, was set up in 2000 as a government initiative to be part of a broader capital market framework to bring about awareness and help protect the interests of minority shareholders through shareholder activism. The MSWG is a professional body licensed under the 2007 Capital Markets and Services Act. It is a self-governing and non-profit body, funded predominantly by the Capital Market Development. It is an important channel for market discipline, encouraging good governance among public listed companies with the objective of raisi...

The Karachi stock market finally managed to close above the psychological level of 17,000 points on Thursday due to heavy buying driven by good corporate results. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 147.69 points or 0.87 percent to close at 17,056.36 points as compared to 16,908.67 points of the previous session. The KSE 30-share index increased 125.28 points to close at 13,931.66 points as compared with 13,806.38 points of the previous session.   “Finally the market managed to close above 17,000 points level,” said Topline Sec dealer Samar Iqbal. “Institutional buying and good corporate results helped the equity prices to improve by approximately 1.0 percent.” Higher than expected earning announcement by Engro Foods helped the market sentiment, she said and added that second-tier cement stocks performed well as investors are expecting healthy profits for the quarter ending in December.   The market turnover went up by 24.38 percent and...

The SECP has approved various documents submitted by the stock exchanges under  the  Stock Exchanges (Corporatization, Demutualization and Integration) Act, 2012. Promulgated on May 7, 2012, the Act provides  a framework for the corporatization, demutualization and integration of the stock exchanges . The demutualization  will bring the Pakistani capital market on a par with  other international jurisdictions,  result in enhanced governance and transparency at the stock exchanges  and will attract strategic investors which will not only provide equity and technical expertise but will also result in increased visibility of these exchanges on international capital market forums. The approved documents include revaluation of assets and liabilities of the stock exchanges, plans for the segregation of commercial and regulatory functions and memorandums and articles of association of the exchanges. The SECP has also approved the authorized and p...

A meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) headed by the Chairman, Commissioner and other senior officials of SECP was held with the Board of Directors, Management and senior members of the Karachi Stock Exchange. The meeting discussed important capital market development matters and measures for enhancing activity at the Exchange by supporting retail participation. The apex and front line regulators reviewed various international best practices for the overall growth of the market and deliberated upon areas of investor protection, expansion of market outreach, new product development in equity, debt and derivative segments, activation of leverage products for improved liquidity, effective risk management and market monitoring and surveillance etc. While highlighting recent reforms in the market including revamping of capital gain tax regime, introduction of revised Code of Corporate Governance and demutualization of stock exchanges, the SECP Ch...

By Aadil Mustafa Jillani I n ve s t m e n t is r e c o g n i z e d as t h e cri t ical t o o l f o r e c o n o m i c gr o w t h in d eve l o p i n g n a t i o n s w h ich cr e a t e s o pp o r t un i t i e s f o r t h e ir b et t e r t o m o r r ow . W e as n a t i o n are v e ry un f o r t un a t e t h at t h e h o p e s o f m as s e s f o r b ette r t om o rr o w d il u t e s b y e v e ry p assi n g d a y as n o t a si n gle s o c i o e c o no m ic r e f o rm is b e i n g i n t r o du c e d n e i t h e r b y F e d e ral n o r b y P r ov i n cial G o v t s du ri n g last f o u r y e ars. E c o n o m y o f P a k i s t an h as n e ve r b ee n i n a d iffic u lt si t u a t i o n as it is to d a y . T ra d e d e fic i t u p b y 3 7 % t o $ 1 9 b l n , C / A d e fic i t s ho o t u p t o $ 3 . 7 b l n , fiscal d e ficit i n cr e a s e d t o R s . 1 . 2 t rill i o n ex p e c te d t o t o u ch ...