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 ...

In order to chalk out a comprehensive strategy to combat business fraud, a meeting of a special committee comprising of representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Financial Monitoring Unit, State Bank of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau, Federal Investigation Agency, and the police is being held on Tuesday, January 8,2013, at the SECP head office.   The committee will focus on preventing illegal business activities, including Ponzi and pyramid schemes, carried out by companies and unregistered entities. The committee has been formed to achieve synergy to prevent fraudulent business activities that cheat the public. It will share information to identify and prevent business scams. The participants will consider developing a national anti-fraud strategy and institutionalizing the coordination mechanism by setting up an all-encompassing anti-fraud body in the country. The committee will identify various areas of common interest, including ...

By Abdul  Qadir Qureshi The JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. (JCR-VIS), approved by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),   has reaffirmed the Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of Pakistan Reinsurance Company Limited (PRCL) at "AA" (Double A) for the year 2012. The outlook on the rating is stable. The JCR-VIS rating agency, a joint venture between Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR) - Japan's premier rating agency, Vital Information Services (Pvt.) Limited (VIS) is acclaimed as Pakistan’s only independent financial research organization. The rating derives strength from the significant holding of Government of Pakistan in the company. Moreover, given that all insurance companies of Pakistan are mandated to offer 35% of their surplus business to PRCL in the form of cession, the company is expected to maintain a sizeable market share in premium ceded by the insurance industry. The JCR-VIS h...

ISLAMABAD- February 18: The federal government has accorded its approval for promulgation of the Securities (Leveraged Markets and Pledging) Rules, 2011, which have been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in the official gazette. While realizing the significance of liquidity in trading for a vibrant stock market, last year the SECP had drafted these rules after detailed consultations with the relevant stakeholders including the State Bank of Pakistan, Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, Pakistan Banks Association, Leasing Association of Pakistan, Modaraba Association of Pakistan, the three stock exchanges, the National Clearing Company and the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited. The rules have been developed considering best international practices and provide a regulatory framework for Margin Financing, Margin Trading, Securities Lending and Borrowing and Pledging of clients’ securities. The promulgation of these rules is not only exp...

State Bank of Pakistan has slashed the discount rate by 100 basis points, report said on Saturday. At a press conference here Saturday, Governor SBP Syed Saleem Raza announced the monetary policy. He announced that the SBP has decided to slash the discount rate by 100 basis points. “The SBP has cut the discount rate by one percentage points from the current 14 per cent,” Raza said. The governor said GDP ratio reaches 2.1 pc. He said foreign exchange reserves improved sharply and stood at $9.1 billion. The SBP has cut the discount rate by one percentage points from the current 14 per cent. It had cut the rate by one percentage point in April this year from 15 to 14 per cent. The central bank also changed the interest rate mechanism to bring transparency in Repurchase Offered (repo) rate as well as reverse repo rate as recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).