KARACHI (January 09 2004): The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) would pursue stock exchanges for 'demutalisation' and subsequent merger of the country's three bourses.
This was stated by Dr Tariq Hassan, Chairman, SECP, on Thursday. He added that the regulator would soon finalise a report on the demutalisation of the stock exchanges, its objective, rules and other regulation to have a smooth capital market at par with international standards.
“The report will be finalised in one week,” said SECP chief. He was addressing the launch of Crosby Asset Management Limited, whose Rs 30 million paid-up capital is held by Crosby Asset Management International Limited – a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and is a one of the financial arms of Crosby group.
“We (SECP) have also finalised rules for margin financing and the gradual phase out of badla (carry-over transaction) is likely to take place within next few months,” he said.
To a question he said that the government directors on the board of Karachi Stock Exchange for calendar year 2004 were free to use their right of vote to elect the bourse chairman.
On mutual funds, the chairman said, interest of Crosby showed that the confidence of investors not only improved in Pakistan's economy, but also in the integrity of the financial system.
The launch of the fund was also seen as an important factor in the development of the mutual fund sub-sector in Pakistan.
Dr Hassan said that the management of the fund was mostly Pakistani and their foreign counterparts were only providing back end support. “I am pleased to see that we have such skill available in our country, and I am sure that the fund will benefit from their expertise,” he said.
The chairman also appreciated the performance of the mutual funds industry, which has shown significant improvement over previous years. The growth is attributable to an effective monitoring and regulatory regime, higher corporate earnings, reduction in interest rates and a buoyant stock market,” he concluded.
