KARACHI (January 21 2003) : The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has stayed the format of the Annual Return which is to be filed by companies registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984.
The decision has been taken with a view to making the Annual Return form simpler to fill in, irksome details have been done away with and duplication of information has been eliminated, reducing the size of the Return from 19 pages to six pages.
Every company registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 has to file an Annual Return with SECP.
The disclosure requirements for the Annual Return are contained in the Third Schedule to the Companies Ordinance, 1984.
These requirements previously extended to 19 printed pages and the corporate management and their consultants have been agitating against the length of the requirements and difficulty in preparation and submission of this Return.
It had particularly been emphasised that the Annual Return was repetitive of the information most of which is provided to the SECP from time to time when the changes actually take place during a calendar year.
Taking cognisance of this difficulty faced by corporate management and consultants, SECP has totally stayed the requirements in the Third Schedule to the Ordinance.
In due course of time, SECP intends to further facilitate submission of this Annual Return electronically.
It is hoped the simplification of the requirements and Form of the Annual Return would greatly facilitate the corporate sector in the country with the statutory requirements.
