Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

  • PSX imposes restriction on New Peak Securities

    PSX imposes restriction on New Peak Securities

    KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday imposed restriction on M/s. New Peak Securities (Private) Limited – TREC Holder – on failure to comply with the instructions of the exchange.

    In a notification, the PSX informed all market participants that M/s. Peak Securities (Private) Limited – TREC Holder, PSX (New Peak) failed to comply with the instructions of the exchange, which is a non compliance of clause 20.5.1 of PSX Regulations.

    The said clause is reproduced as:

    “20.5.1. Pursuant to Clause 20.4 hereinabove, the CRO, sub-committee of RAC or RAC, as the case may be, may initiate disciplinary actions against a TRE Certificate Holder under sub-clause 20.5.2 when it is prima facie established that such TRE Certificate Holder has breached one or more of the PSX Regulations or failed to comply with a policy, procedure, order, notice, guideline, direction, manual, decision, instruction or ruling of the Exchange or failed to provide any required information or provided incomplete, false, forged or misleading information to the Exchange as may be required from time to time.”

    In order to protect the interest of investing public, the exchange, after providing due hearing opportunity, has decided to “impose restriction on opening of new clients’ accounts” with immediate effect alongwith financial penalty on New Peak, under clause 20.5.2 of PSX Regulations.

    The said clause is reproduced as:

    “20.5.2. GENERAL DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS:
    Disciplinary actions that may be taken pursuant to sub-clause 20.5.1 are as follows:
    (a) Issue a warning in writing to act more carefully and vigilantly;
    (b) Reprimand in writing that the conduct warrants censure;
    (c) Impose a fine;
    (d) Impose any one or more conditions or restrictions;
    (e) Mandate educational qualification, training or such other program as may be determined by the relevant authority to be undertaken or implemented by the Broker for its employees;
    (f) Direct to take remedial actions to rectify the breach including appropriate action(s) against any of its employees concerned behind such breach, whether directly or indirectly ; and/or take such other action as the relevant authority may deem appropriate;
    (g) Suspend any or all trading terminals.”

    The PSX said that the enforcement action has been taken without prejudice to the right of the exchange to further initiate any inquiry, special audit with expanded, restricted or different scope to take any punitive action against New Peak in accordance with relevant regulations on matters subsequently investigated or otherwise brought to the knowledge of the exchange.

  • FBR issues single page return form for shopkeepers, traders

    FBR issues single page return form for shopkeepers, traders

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday issued final draft of single-page income tax return for shopkeepers /small traders having annual turnover less than Rs10 million.

    The FBR issued SRO 885(I)/2020 to notify the final draft. Previously, the FBR on September 08, 2020 issued draft return form for shopkeepers/traders through SRO 821(I)/2020 to invite comments.

    In the single return form, the traders are required to provide following details:

    The traders will also require to submit simple wealth statement form. In this form the traders shall provide following details:

  • Banks directed to apply AML/CFT rules on issuance of saving certificates

    Banks directed to apply AML/CFT rules on issuance of saving certificates

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday directed banks to implement anti-money laundering (AML) and Counter Financing for Terrorism (CFT) rules related to issuance of National Saving Schemes (NSS).

    The SBP said that commercial banks are performing functions of sale, encashment, profit payment etc. of various NSS such as prize bonds, SSC and DSC.

    In this connection, your attention is invited towards National Savings Schemes (AML & CFT) Rules, 2019 promulgated by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan vide Notification No. F.No.16(1)GS-I/2019-98 dated January 23, 2020, sub-rule (3) of Rule 1 whereof reads as:

    These rules shall apply to all offices and persons responsible for the issuance, management, marketing, registration, replacement, sale and discharge of the instruments issued by and the accounts opened at and maintained with the National Savings Centers, Pakistan Post and any other office designated as offices of issue.”

    In light of the cited rule, being the office of issue, the said Rules are also applicable on the commercial banks. Therefore, it is advised to ensure implementation of and compliance with the enclosed NSS (AML&CFT) Rules, 2019 and arrange for necessary dissemination to the concerned officials and branches, the SBP said.

  • FBR forms committees to eliminate inequalities in taxation system

    FBR forms committees to eliminate inequalities in taxation system

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday formed committees for elimination of inequality in taxation system and speedy resolution of taxpayers’ complaints.

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  • Zeeshan Merchant elected unopposed KTBA president

    Zeeshan Merchant elected unopposed KTBA president

    KARACHI: The office bearers and members of executive committee have been elected unopposed for the term 2020 in the election of Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA). This was announced at 63rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bar held on Thursday.

    All the candidates for the KTBA elections have been elected unopposed. The AGM announced the successful candidates as: Syed Zeeshan Merchant, President; Syed Hassan Naeem, Vice President; Syed Faiq Raza Rizvi, General Secretary; Muhammad Mehmood Bikiya, Joint Secretary; and Shiraz Khan as librarian.

    The managing committee of the KTBA includes: Arshad Siraj, Asim Rizwani Sheikh, Haris Tufail, Imran A. Karim, Imran Hyder, Irfan Ghafoor, Muhammad Yasin Merchant and Syed Wasimuddin Hashmi.

  • Foreign exchange reserves remain flat at $19.959 billion

    Foreign exchange reserves remain flat at $19.959 billion

    KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country were remained flat at $19.959 billion by week ended on September 11, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.961 billion by week ended September 04, 2020.

    The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP increased by $12 million to $12.82 billion by week ended September 11, 2020 as compared with $12.808 billion by week ended September 04, 2020.

    The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks fell by $14 million to $7.139 billion by week ended September 11, 2020 as compared with $7.153 billion by week ended September 04, 2020.

  • Share market gains 53 points amid selling pressure

    Share market gains 53 points amid selling pressure

    KARACHI: The share market gained 53 points on Thursday despite selling pressure seen in the market during the day.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,334 points as against 42,282 points showing an increase of 53 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note with +193 points and added a total of 350 points on the index.

    Selling pressure eroded most of the gains by the end of session, closing the index +53 points. Financial results of DGKC helped the stock post price gains.

    Among technology stocks, PTC hit upper circuit whereas Chemical sector helped EPCL touch recent times high. Technology sector topped the volumes with 108.6 million shares, followed by Power (47.5 million) and Vanaspati (45.2 million). Among scrips, KEL led the table with 70.5 million shares, followed by HASCOL (37.4 million) and DCL (28.1 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Chemical (+23 points), Technology (+17 points), E&P (+14 points), Insurance (-15 points), Pharma (-7 points).

    Volumes increased from 489.6 million shares to 508.7 million shares (+4 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 3 percent to reach US$ 90.8 million as against US$ 87.9 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PTC, UNITY, HASCOL, FFL and PIBTL, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include EPCL (+20 points), POL (+14 points), PTC (+13 points), PSO (+13 points) and ENGRO (+12 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include FFC (-12 points), AICL (-9 points), JLICL (-8 points), NESTLE (-6 points) and ABL (-5 points).

  • Rupee recovers 13 paisas on inflows

    Rupee recovers 13 paisas on inflows

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee recovered 13 paisas against dollar on Thursday owing to improved inflows of export receipts and workers remittances.

    The rupee ended Rs166.21 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.34 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that the rupee recovered owing to inflows of export receipts and workers’ remittances. They said that demand for import payment was remained in the market however the inflows helped the rupee to avoid losses.

    The experts hoped the local currency likely to gain further in coming days owing to better economic conditions. They said that the initiative of launching dollar and rupee denomination bonds may attract overseas Pakistanis due to better rate of return.

  • SBP facilitates overseas Pakistanis to increase participation in domestic financial market

    SBP facilitates overseas Pakistanis to increase participation in domestic financial market

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the government are actively working to facilitate non-resident Pakistanis in increasing their investment in domestic financial market, SBP governor Dr. Reza Baqir said.

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  • FBR promotes 65 IROs to post of Assistant Commissioner

    FBR promotes 65 IROs to post of Assistant Commissioner

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday promoted 65 Inland Revenue Officers (IROs) of BS-16 to the post of assistant commissioner of Inland Revenue BS-17 with immediate effect.

    The FBR promoted following officers to the post of Assistant Commissioner IR with their name and place of posting:

    1. Muhammad Arshad, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation IR, Karachi
    2. Zahid Saleem, Regional Tax Office (RTO) Gujranwala
    3. Mazhar Ali Khan, RTO-I, Karachi
    4. Zulfiqar Ali, Corporate Tax Office (CTO) Lahore
    5. Mirza Baqaullah Baig, CTO, Karachi
    6. Muhammad Tariq Mehmood Awan, FBR HQ
    7. Muhammad Ismail ur Rehman, RTO Islamabad
    8. Ghulam Dastagir, CTO Lahore
    9. Syed Muhammad Kamal, Directorate I&I Karachi
    10. Shahid Asif Saddiqui, Large Taxpayers Office (LTO), Karachi
    11. Syed Wasi Imam, RTO-II, Karachi
    12. Yousuf Bashir, RTO-II, Karachi
    13. Aijaz Hussain Sahto, RTO-I, Karachi
    14. Salmab Zubaid, RTO-I, Karachi
    15. Iltaf Hussain, RTO Peshawar
    16. Ayaz Ali Dahrajo, RTO Hyderabad
    17. Muhammad Anwar Javed, RTO Islamabad
    18. Zulqarnain Gondal, RTO Sargodha
    19. Anjum Mahmood, LTO Lahore
    20. Tanveer Aslam, RTO Gujranwala
    21. Zia ur Rehman, RTO-II Karachi
    22. Muhammad Aslam, RTO-I Karachi
    23. Waheed ul Haq, CTO Karachi
    24. Shahid Mahmood Ishaqui, Medium Taxpayers Office (MTO), Karachi
    25. Muhammad Saeed, RTO Lahore
    26. Sajid Ali, AEIO Zone Islamabad
    27. Muhammad Aslam, RTO Rawalpindi
    28. Muhammad Umer Farooq, RTO Rawalpindi
    29. Ateequ ur Rehman, Directorate General of Internal Audit IR Islamabad
    30. Muhammad Anwar Kakar, RTO Quetta
    31. Muhammad Shafiq, RTO Sahiwal
    32. Muhammad Ilyas Satti, RTO Islamabad
    33. Muhammad Sarwar Malik, Directorate General of Internal Audit IR Islamabad
    34. Tariq Saeed Ghuman, CTO Lahore
    35. Mukesh Kumar, RTO-II Karachi
    36. Niaz Ahmed Khan, RTO Peshawar
    37. Shams ur Rehman, RTO Peshawar
    38. Muhammad Nayyar Karim, LTO Karachi
    39. Khawar Iqbal, RTO-I Karachi
    40. Mujeeb Alam, Directorate General I&I IR Islamabad
    41. Muhammad Amin Gondal, RTO Faisalabad
    42. Syed Shahid Hussain Shirazi, Directorate General of Internal Audit (IR), Islamabad
    43. Muhammad Azam Mughal, RTO-II Karachi
    44. Zulfiqar Ali Khoso, RTO Hyderabad
    45. Sh. Fayyaz Ahmed, LTO Islamabad
    46. Malik Afzaal Ahmed, RTO Islamabad
    47. Khaisata Gul, RTO Peshawar
    48. Iqbal Noor, RTO Peshawar
    49. Karamat Hussain, RTO Multan
    50. Muhammad Ashraf Khan, RTO Islamabad
    51. Safdar Hussain, LTO Lahore
    52. Tahir Mehmood Awan, RTO Faisalabad
    53. Munir Ahmed, RTO Sialkot
    54. Nasir Ali, RTO Multan
    55. Jahanzeb Khan, RTO Lahore
    56. Muhammad Saleem Qari, RTO Islamabad
    57. Muhammad Saeed, RTO Peshawar
    58. Muhammad Anjum, RTO Peshawar
    59. Riaz Gul, RTO Peshawar
    60. Siraj Muhammad, RTO Peshawar
    61. Muhammad Farooq Khan, RTO Peshawar
    62. Muhammad Mansha Nasir, RTO Lahore
    63. Muhammad Aslam, RTO Lahore
    64. Munir Ahmed Mahar, RTO Sukkur
    65. Shakeel Ahmed, RTO Hyderabad

    The FBR said that the promotion will take effect from the date of charge assumption subject to the condition that no disciplinary proceedings are pending against them.

    The FBR further said that the promoted officers would undergo a departmental training for a period of three months at Directorate General of Training and Research, Inland Revenue for which separate schedule would be issued by the board.

    “In case an officer is retiring within one year from commencement of the said training, he will be exempt from such training.”

    The officers will remain on probation for a period of one year, extendable further for one year, subject to satisfactory completion of the training.