SECP nominate Aftab Ahmad Khan, Mumtaz Hussain Syed, Asif Kamal and Bushra Naz Malik as LSE directors

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has nominated high profile and experienced professionals from the financial and capital markets as directors on the Board of Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) for 2011.

They are Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan, Group Director (Finance & Accounts), Nishat Group; Mr. Mumtaz Hussain Syed, Chief Executive, Crosby Capital Pakistan (Private) Limited; Mr. Asif Kamal, Chairman, Trust Investment Bank Limited; and Ms. Bushra Naz Malik, former Group Director, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group.

They come from the fields of project finance, accounts and investment banking have valuable capital market and corporate sector experience and can be seen as a fair mix of the requisite qualification and skills on the LSE Board.

Mr.. Aftab Ahmad Khan, Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, has over 40 years of diverse professional experience. Presently, he is the Group Director (Finance & Accounts) of the Nishat Group, in which capacity he looks after financial and strategic planning and investment appraisal for the Group. Additionally, he is serving as Director on the Boards of the MCB Bank Limited and various other companies in the textile, paper, energy and hotel/ tourism sectors. He also served in the public sector organizations including Punjab Industrial Development Board dealing with Ghee, Sugar and Rice Milling and has been Director at the National Investment Trust Limited, Karachi from 2008 to 2010.

Mr. Mumtaz Hussain Syed, an investment banker by profession, has more than 22 years of extensive experience in the fields of project finance, investment management and analysis, business development and general management and has several high profile transactions in energy, telecommunications, banking, financial services industry and other sectors to his credit. Presently, he is the Chief Executive of the Crosby Capital Pakistan (Private) Limited which is providing financial advisory, business restructuring and management consulting services to various clients. Holding an MBA degree from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, he possesses extensive capital market experience covering privatizations, acquisitions, divestitures, debt arrangement, equity placement and joint ventures. He has also served on the Board of Directors of a number of listed companies as well as advisory positions with the government of Pakistan.

Mr. Asif Kamal, a graduate in Finance from the Business School of the University of South Florida, is presently the Chairman of Trust Investment Bank Limited: one of the leading investment banks in Pakistan. He is also the Chief Executive of Tricon Developers Limited, a real estate development company. He has also served as the Chief Executive of Genesis Securities Private Limited from 1994 to 2006, which is a financial advisory company. His professional and capital market experience accumulating up to more than 16 years, Mr. Kamal is also a member of the Federal Board of Investment since 2008 and a member of the Board of the Privatization Commission since 2010.

Ms. Bushra Naz Malik, Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, has over 16 years of professional and financial market experience which includes her 12-year tenure as the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Nafees Group of Industries, Lahore and a 4-year term as the Group Director, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group. She did her MBA at Kellogg Business School in the US and the Schulich Business School, Canada. She also has an LLB degree from the Punjab College and Advanced Management Program certification from the Harvard Business School.

It is expected that the LSE Board of Directors, in particular, and the capital markets in general, will greatly benefit from the mix of extensive knowledge, experience and diverse expertise the above professionals will be offering, and that the said individuals will be contributing positively towards promoting principles of good governance and transparency.

Mufti Munib ur Rehman appoints as Memeber of Modarba religious board

ISLAMABAD, March 11: The federal government has appointed the renowned religious scholar Professor Mufti Munib ur Rehman as a member of the Religious Board for Modarabas (Islamic financial institutions) with immediate effect. The appointment has been made in pursuance of Section 9 of the 1980 Modaraba Companies and Modaraba (Floatation and Control) Ordinance.

This position fell vacant with Mr. Imran Ahsan Nyazee’s resignation. Mufti Munib ur Rehman will serve out the remaining term.

The board considers applications for floatation of modaraba in light of Shariah. It provides guidance, based on the teachings of Islam, to the Registrar (Modarabas) of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

Consensus needed to tackle economic challenges: Ebad

Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, Governor Sindh has said that political consensus amongst all parties a pre-requisite to face challenges faced by the country.

Addressing the Annual Dinner 2010 of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), the Dr Ebad said that the country and nation is facing various challenges particularly law and order and declining economy and all the stakeholders should sit together as the government could not face the challenges alone and without the help of all parties and the people. He said that MQM has already rejected the recent increase in POL prices announced by government. He said that MQM had rejected the POL price increase in the past as it was a big burden on the general masses. Governor said that though condition of economy is not good but still some indicators such as building up foreign exchange reserves and increase in exports are showing that the situation is not that bad either. He said that industry in Karachi has been exempted from load-shedding and the gas shortage has also been resolved with the consultation of KESC and SSGC's managements and the stakeholders. He mentioned that KATI has become a distinctive trade and industrial body through its efforts for the betterment of trade and industry. While paying tributes to Patron In-chief KATI, S M Muneer and his team he advised other trade bodies to follow his footsteps.

S M Muneer while expressing his dismay over 10 per cent increase in POL prices, said that the economy is already reaching on the verge of collapse the government has once again increased the prices of petroleum which would be extremely detrimental to the national economy and the break the backbone of general masses. He said that due to anti-people decisions would result in unrest among the people. He pointed out that one day strike in Pakistan causes Rs5 billion revenue loss to the national exchequer and government should also realize this factor and instead of increasing POL and utilities prices should try to avoid greater losses in the shape of strikes, industry's shut down and export shipments' failures. He once again demanded of the government to hand over the management of loss making public organizations such as PIA, Railways, Pakistan Steel, PEPCO, etc. to the some honest and professional stakeholders in private sector in order to bring them out of red and save Rs500 billion subsidies given to these organizations annually. The Chairman, KATI, Syed Johar Ali Qandhari in his welcome address pointed out the grim situation of the economy and asked the governor to give priority to the ongoing crisis of utilities shortage such as power load-shedding, water and gas shortage in the country's industrial and commercial hub - Karachi."Government should have to address the economy on first priority as the industries are closing down, exports declining, raw materials are getting expensive frequently and the Pak rupee has been devalued by 40 per cent in the last three years", Qandhari said.

The outgoing Chairman, KATI, Razzak Hashim Paracha said that Pakistan's industry is in really bad shape and the government should have act positively to save the industrial base to avoid mass scale unemployment in the country.

Former Chairman, Mian Zahid Husain pointed out that Karachi's industry has been exempted from load-shedding only due to the efforts by the Governor Sindh. Senior Minister, Sindh, Agha Siraj Durrani, Provincial Minister for Industries, Rauf Siddiqi, Vice President, FPCCI, Khalid Tawab and Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan also spoke on the occasion.

After discussion among coalition partners: Petroleum prices increase reduced by 50 percent

The government has agreed to reduce by 50 percent the recent increase in the petroleum prices in the country.An announcement to this effect was made by Federal Finance Minister, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, while briefing media at the Governor House here late Thursday night.He said "after discussion among coalition partners which was held in a very cordial atmosphere, we have decided that the increase in the petroleum prices which was about 10 percent, be reduced by half, that is, five percent".Hafeez Shaikh said that because of this the government would have to bear an additional burden.

He said that in case of any reduction in the petroleum prices in the international market, the benefit of the same would also be transferred to the public.

Finance Minister said that there would also be 25 percent reduction in the allocation of petrol for government officials.Hafeez Shaikh said that a decision has been taken in principle to reduce the recent increase in the petroleum prices by 50 percent.

He said that a formal approval would be sought from the Prime minister and a notification would subsequently be issued.

Sindh Governor, Dr. Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, said that after the increase in petroleum prices in the wake of enhancement in the price of the commodity at international level, the chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Altaf Hussain, talked to President Asif Ali Zardari, and it was considered as to how the impact of the enhancement could be minimised for the masses.

He said that President Zardari sent Finance Minister, Dr. Hafeez Shaikh, and Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, for talks with the MQM team, on how the impact of increase in petroleum prices could be minimised to provide relief to the masses.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said that in the past three months there was almost 26 percent increase in petroleum prices at the international level but the Government of Pakistan decided to enhance only 10 percent and had to absorb an impact of Rs five billion per month.

He stated that MQM Chief Altaf Hussain and President Asif Ali Zardari initiated a contact to try and further minimise the impact of increase of petroleum prices on the people.

Federal Finance Minister said “we decided to reduce this increase by 50 percent, that is, from 10 percent to five percent.

MQM leader Dr. Farooq Sattar, who was also present on the occasion, congratulated the people on the announcement regarding reduction in petroleum prices.

He thanked President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Finance Minister Dr. Hafeez Shaikh, and the MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

Dr. Farooq Sattar was of the view that attention be paid towards broadening the tax base.

Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, thanked the MQM leadership and Finance Minister, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

He said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and MQM always think for the betterment of the people and poverty alleviation.

Rehman malik also appealed to the transporters that in view of reduction in petroleum prices they should withdraw their strike call immediately.

MQM leaders Babar Ghauri, Syed Sardar Ahmed and Abbas Haider Rizvi were also present on the occasion.

SECP registered 323 companies in January

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 323 companies in January.

The highest share in new incorporations was of private companies totaling 290. Other companies include 20 single-member companies, 2 public unlisted companies, 6 non-profit associations, 4 foreign companies and one trade organization.

Of 323 companies, the highest incorporation of 53 companies each was witnessed in the services and trading sector, followed by 18 in Hajj and Umrah services, 17 in I.T., 16 in construction, 12 each in textile and communications, 11 in engineering, 10 in pharmaceuticals, 9 each in chemical, education, transport, and food and beverages, 8 each in power generation and fuel and energy, and 7 each in auto and allied, and corporate agricultural farming.

During January the Company Registration Office (CRO), Lahore, registered highest new incorporation of 108 companies followed by the CRO in Islamabad and Karachi registering 93 and 75 companies, respectively. The CROs of Peshawar, Multan and Faisalabad registered 17, 14 and 12 companies each while CROs in Quetta and Sukkur registered 3 and 1 company respectively.

The authorized capital and paid-up capital of 323 companies, is Rs1,774 million and Rs 712.08 million respectively. During the month, 51 companies increased their authorized capital with the aggregate authorized capital increment of Rs8.46 billion and 74 companies raised their paid-up capital with the total paid-up capital increment amounting to Rs13.6 billion.

SECP holds seminar on corporatization and e-Services

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) held a seminar on corporatization and e-Services project of the SECP in Karachi in collaboration with Management Association of Pakistan.

This seminar was organized as part of the SECP initiative to encourage corporatization and create awareness about the eServices project. After e-Services launch in September 2008, such seminars have already been held in various cities of the country including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

This seminar was attended by participants from various companies as well as corporate consultants.

Mr Ibtesam Moatisim Khan, Director, Management Information System, delivered a presentation on the “e-Services Project of SECP” and also provided solutions to the difficulties faced by the users of eServices. The significance of eServices as an easy and cost-effective mode of filing of documents with SECP and new developments in e-Services were shared.

Mr. Sidney Custodio Pereira, in charge, CRO Karachi, apprised the participants of “corporatization and the role of SECP”.

The participants greatly appreciated the questions and answers session. They complimented the SECP on successful implementation of e-Services.

Famous cricket commentator, Mr Chishty Mujahid, now the Executive Director, MAP, expressed his gratitude to the SECP saying that MAP would continue to arrange such informative and interactive sessions with the SECP.

Karachi Income Tax Bar rejects proposed Rule 81B Active Taxpayers List

Mr Ali Rahim
President Income Tax Bar Association
Karachi.

Income Tax Bar Association, Karachi rejected proposed insertion of Rule 81B relating to Active Taxpayers List as it will affect every tax payer in the country.

In a communication to Federal Board of Revenue, it said FBR SRO 09(I)/2011, on January 6, 2011, after discussion by its members was rejected as functions and powers delegated under it negated available provisions contained in Income Tax Ordinance,2001. FBR record and data is not updated properly, web portal of PRAL faces numerous technical problems and unwarranted use of this law will be disastrous having negative impact on business activities of existing taxpayers.

Bar says taxpayer once suspended will have to run from pillar to post and their request will only be accepted when gratification is used. SRO will be considered a great tool to discourage existing taxpayers as harassment, highhandedness cannot be ruled out while exercising powers available in proposed Rule.

The Department, FBR failed to achieve task of broadening tax base and requested to shelve this SRO for time being, in the interest of country which is facing economic and geo-political challenges in the region, said Bar President Ali A. Rahim.

SECP takes Eastern Capital Limited to court, warrants issued

ISLAMABAD – January 12: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has filed a criminal complaint in a court against Eastern Capital Limited, ex-member of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and all those, including its director, involved in non-transfer of shares/funds and unauthorized pledges of client’s shares and other prohibited activities under Section 24(2) of the Central Depositories Act 1997 as well as offences under relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The warrants for all the accused have been issued.

The SECP received numerous complaints/claims against five KSE brokers mainly pertaining to the alleged non-transfer of shares and non-payment of funds. The SECP directed the brokers to expedite resolution of complaints/claims and issued instructions for the immediate transfer of shares/funds to the claimants. The brokers failed to remedy the situation, obliging the SECP to suspend registration of Eastern Capital Limited and four other brokers.

Moreover, the SECP initiated enquiries against five brokers and appointed enquiry committees comprising officers from the SECP, KSE and CDC.

It emerged that the shares of the clients which were in control of Eastern Capital Limited for trading purposes only were moved, pledged and transferred to other accounts, without any authorization. . The shares were pledged with banks to obtain financing which were mostly used to liquidate liabilities of the brokerage house resulting in total loss to the investors.

Consequently, the SECP filed a criminal complaint in the court of Session Judge Karachi South against the Eastern Capital Limited and others. This is the third criminal complaint against the brokerage houses involved in illegal pledging of shares. The earlier two criminal complaints were filed against Capital One Equities Limited and Cliktrade Limited.

The SECP has also moved a reference under Section 18(b)(i) of the NAB Ordinance, 1999 with a request to investigate the affairs of Capital One Equities Limited and Cliktrade Limited to punish the culprits who have cheated innocent investors and to recover the investors’ savings which have been misappropriated/transferred for the personal benefits of the sponsors, directors and their associated concerns.

In addition, the SECP took steps to curb such market abuse by improving regulatory framework to facilitate the market participants. In this connection the SECP has recently approved a project of “Automation of Securities Settlement” which has jointly been implemented by NCCPL and CDC to facilitate the market participants to automate the mechanism for settlement of book-entry securities by eliminating the need for any manual intervention. The new system not only improves efficiency but also help in preventing mishandling of book entry securities of clients.

The copies of enquiry report on Eastern Capital Limited and criminal complaint are available on the SECP website. The SECP has also finalized the enquiry reports on the other two expelled KSE members and legal action is being taken against all those who were involved in prohibited practices.

Iftikhar Malik, Tariq Saeed and Jamil Magon visit Guard Auto Zone

SECP puts fraudulent company BIZNAS. Com out of business

Islamabad: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has put an end to fraudulent activities of M/s. BizNas.Com Pakistan (Private) Limited.

A timely action by the SECP’s Karachi-based Companies Registration Office (CRO) has put an end to the fraudulent company, saving a large number of prospective investors losing their hard-earned money.

The Sindh High Court has passed an order for compulsory winding up of the company under section 305 of the 1984 Companies Ordinance. The official assignee has been appointed as official liquidator of the company.

The company was registered with the CRO on March 5, 2002. The main objectives of the company were designing and developing computers software packages. The company operated a website, owned by its parent company, through which it provided different IT courses and also made available to its members space for hosting on its website. The business mechanism of the company was based on a Pyramid or Ponzi scheme, in which returns are paid to earlier investors/members, entirely out of the money paid into the scheme by new investors/members.

The company’s activities were objectionable because they were not provided in its Memorandum of Association. Hence the company was doing ultra vires business. Moreover, the company was engaged in activities that were considered to be of a fraudulent nature, offering people incentives only for getting deposits from other investors.

The show-cause notices were issued to the company but the company failed to clarify its position. The CRO initiated winding up proceedings against the company and a case was filed in the Sindh High Court in 2002, which has now ordered compulsory winding up of the company.