ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), in a meeting headed by Chairman Zafar Hijazi, has urged the Corporate Law Review Commission Secretariat to submit the final draft of the new companies law by March 31, 2015, which will provide a breathing space for smaller companies by way of lesser regulation and an encouraging regime for raising and maintaining capital for large companies.
The Commission also instructed the review commission secretariat to finalize the draft expeditiously and start the due process of public consultation. Tahir Mahmood, Commissioner Company Law Division (CLD), Zafar Abdullah, Commissioner Securities Market Division (SMD), Akif Saeed, Commissioner Specialized Companies Division and Fida Hussain Samoo, Commissioner Insurance attended the meeting.
The Commission is looking into removing many old-fashioned concepts such as authorized capital, restrictions on raising capitals etc. and pondering upon introducing the concept of no par value, treasury share, share warrants, partly paid shares etc., which if approved will be a major step towards liberalization of economy.
The Commission is also focusing on the issues related to minority shareholders protection and concepts such as minority buy out and representation of minority shareholders on the boards of the companies. The proposed law will definitely boost economic growth and prosperity in Pakistan.