Islamabad, June 24, 2023 (PPI-OT): The honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Umar Ata Bandial said that the law should support and encourage private businesses that will automatically translate into economic growth. Justice Bandial was delivering his keynote address at the SECP’s Symposium on Corporate Supervision and Regulatory Actions – Challenges and Reforms.

The second day of the Symposium was dedicated to stakeholder consultation to suggest way forward with respect to issues relating to company court rules, mergers, liquidations, RegTech, Suptech, Digitisation, and the adoption of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR). Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Umar Ata Bandial said “We need to provide certainty, fair taxation, and transparent regulation for business growth”. Justice Bandial noted that SECP’s primary responsibility is to protect minority shareholders and small investors. Good business requires transparent regulation and timely and fair disclosure of information. Justice Bandial extended support for any statutory amendments in this regard. The Chief Justice said that the court system is overworked. The regulators can help reduce the burden on courts by playing their due role in settling corporate disputes via ADR. He concurred with the proposed amendment to the SECP Act for constituting Corporate tribunals.

The symposium resumed with a round of discussions on “Application of the Companies (Court) Rules 1997 – Issues, Challenges and Reforms with Especial Reference to Insolvency and Liquidation. The formal discussion kicked off with Hon’ble Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani posing queries in front of the panellists and Hon’ble Justices Junaid Ghaffar, Abdullah Baloch, Jawad Hassan, Syed Muhammad Attique Shah, and Rozi Khan Berrech as chairs. The final round of discussion was on “Role of ADR in resolving Corporate Disputes”, under the chairman ship of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial. During deliberations, honourable Justice Yousaf Ali Sayeed said that the countries where mediation has become popular and shown results, also saw statutory restrictions to send the disputes to mediators before litigation.

Justice Mian Gul Aurangzeb said that Islamabad has the requisite foundation for mediation. “Young barristers and lawyers, well-versed in mediation are waiting for cases to be referred to them”, he said adding that we in the court system should promote that.

Advocate Khozem Haidermota made a presentation on RegTech (Regulatory Technology) and its subsidiary SupTech (Supervision Technology). He explained to the audiences that this is a process which ensures zero human interference and runs AI (Artifical Intelligence). He pointed out examples from all over the world where this mode of operation is either fully operational or in-progress. In Pakistan’s case, he highlighted lack of cloud space to run such a system. He also highlighted bottlenecks in the overall process of technical adaptability, including the absence of a liability law for AI. He also highlighted data protection bill that lacks in certain areas, including storage of data, cross-border transfer of critical data, and the requirement of keeping certain data components within Pakistan.

Saima Kamila, Chief Legal Officer Jazz proposed a light touch regulatory approach to accelerate tech ecosystem in Pakistan. Ms. Saima Kamil from Jazz shared her ideas on the topic and said that while the issue of unavailability of cloud space is significant, we also need to seriously consider data sovereignty. “While we can consider the option of cross border availability of cloud, we need to think about our own capabilities in the long run as well”, she said.

Sidney Custodio Pereira, SECP Registrar, made a presentation shedding light on significant amendments to the Companies Act, 2017. Among the notable suggestions were the removal of the requirement of an AGM before issuing financial statements, the omission of the statutory meeting requirement, verification of company addresses, new provisions for Easy Exit, and start-ups being allowed to file summary statements. The second round of discussions sprang from the first round, and revolved around “Managing Mergers and Amalgamations”. The floor was opened for the panellists, where Advocate Qamar Afzal pointed out that Pakistan still does not have a bankruptcy law, which in itself is a huge deterrent to mergers and amalgamations. He gave the example of a case in this category that began in 1984 and finally got resolved in 2023. Another speaker said that we do indeed have a bankruptcy law but it is so old that everyone has forgotten about it.

In the end, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani gave a concluding statement. “We have had a very useful two-day symposium where several issues pertaining to corporate was discussed and candid comments were made by the lawyers and other participants”, he said. He also thanked SECP for organizing the symposium and thanked the attendees for taking time out to participate.

For more information, contact:

Head, Internal and External Communication

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)

NIC Building, 63 Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad

Tel: +92-51-9214005 or +92-51-9214009 (Ext. 378)

Fax: +92-51-9206459

Cell: +92-302-8552254

E-mail: shakil.chaudhary@secp.gov.pk

Website: www.secp.gov.pk