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Tag: SECP

  • Prime Minister constitutes commission to probe Rs24 trillion borrowing in ten years

    Prime Minister constitutes commission to probe Rs24 trillion borrowing in ten years

    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday constituted a commission to probe the unprecedented borrowing of Rs 24 trillion during past ten years and to set an example for those who looted the country.

    In a nationwide televised address, hours after the announcement of the national budget Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “Pakistan today was economically stable … I will now go after all of them [the leaders of PPP and PML-N] and take them to task for ruthlessly plundering the national wealth.”

    “I will make them answerable. I will investigate, and I will not spare them even if it is a threat to my life,” Imran said, after the national budget in which the government withdrew subsidies on many sectors and taxed almost all the sectors.

    The commission will comprise of officials from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), ISI, Federal Board of Revenue and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SEC).

    The prime minister said that his PTI led government had present maiden budget and it would reflect the manifesto of the party.

    Talking about the latest arrests of political leaders, he said that no one ever think about these stalwarts behind the bars.

    He said that today the judiciary and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are independent. He said that cases against PML-N leaders were not instituted by his government. “Yet they blame me for their arrests,” he added.

  • SECP to facilitate startups under PM’s Kamyab Jawan Program

    SECP to facilitate startups under PM’s Kamyab Jawan Program

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has assured to provide all necessary measures for the nascent companies to be registered in communication, tourism and postal sectors under Startup Pakistan Programme of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme.

    This assurance was given by Farrukh Sabzwari, Chairman, SECP at a meeting with Muhammad Usman Dar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs at a meeting on Monday.

    The meeting discussed preferential treatment for the registration of new startup companies through an online process under Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme.

    It would not only promote entrepreneurship culture in the country but would also empower youth both socially and economically.

    Muhammad Usman Dar appreciated commitment of Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in facilitating and promoting business activities in the country for the creation of employment opportunities for the youth.

  • FBR restructuring proposed to make autonomous body

    FBR restructuring proposed to make autonomous body

    KARACHI: The government has been proposed to make Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as an autonomous body on similar line as State Bank of Pakistan.

    The Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) in its budget proposals for 2019/2020 suggested restructuring of FBR as an independent governing body.

    It suggested that FBR should be made an autonomous body on similar lines as State Bank of Pakistan, SECP, and Internal Revenue Services (IRS) of United States.

    FBR should operate and work in a corporate governance structure with a Board of Directors, vested with powers like that of the Boards of Public listed companies.

    The Chairman of FBR and fifty percent of the Board members may be nominated by the government (Ministries of Finance, Law, and Commerce) and, the remaining fifty percent Board members should be nominated by bodies like OICCI, PBC and ICAP.

    A transparent accountability system in tax administration should be introduced, and reasonable independence and empowerment given to various operational positions.

    The external audit of FBR should be done annually, by an independent international audit firm whose report should be presented and fully discussed in the Tax Policy Board meeting.

    There should also an Internal Audit function within the FBR for an effective ongoing internal audit reporting directly to the independent members of the Board nominated by the Trade bodies.

    Apart from revenue collection a key function of the FBR should be to address coordination issues between federal and provincial revenue authorities, with monthly meetings to ensure ease of doing business for taxpayers.

  • Secured transactions registry established in SECP

    Secured transactions registry established in SECP

    In a significant development aimed at improving access to credit for small businesses and the agriculture sector, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has officially established the Secured Transaction Registry (STR). This registry will record charges and security interests created by entities on their movable assets, facilitating easier and more secure access to loans.

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  • Total number of registered companies increases to 99,291: SECP

    Total number of registered companies increases to 99,291: SECP

    ISLAMABAD: The total number of registered companies has increased to 99,291 by end of April 2019, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said on Friday.

    The SECP said that it registered 1,460 new companies in April 2019 and the majority of them were registered within four hours.

    As compared to the corresponding month of last financial year, the growth in incorporation of companies is noticed as 29 percent, raising the number of registered companies to 99,291.

    The massive increase in the new incorporations is the result of the SECP’s reforms in the ease of doing business, i.e. introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, one window facility for company incorporation and NTN generation, reduction in fee and enhanced assistance of investors by facilitation wings established by the SECP.

    The SECP has upgraded browser’s compatibility and now in addition to Internet Explorer, other browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge can be used for name reservation and company incorporation processes. Consequently, 95 percent companies were registered online.

    During the month 73 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 24 percent were registered as single-member companies.

    Three percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP).

    The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 260 companies, services with 174, I.T. with 163, construction with 154, tourism with 81, real estate development with 67, food and beverages with 61, marketing and advertisement with 42, education with 41, corporate agricultural farming with 38, textile with 33.

    Thirty companies belong to engineering, 26 to transport, 25 to healthcare, 21 each to pharmaceuticals, and fuel and energy, 20 to mining and quarrying, 19 to communication, 17 to cosmetics and toiletries, 16 each to auto and allied, and logging, 15 to chemicals, 14 each to broadcasting, and paper and board, 13 to cable and electric goods. Seventy-nine companies were registered in other sectors.

    Foreign investment has been reported in 66 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Jordan, Korea South, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, UK, Ukraine and the US.

    The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 503 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 406 and 311 in Lahore and Karachi respectively.

    The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered, 79, 58, 38, 38, 21 and 6 companies respectively.

  • FBR issues procedure for obtaining NTN, company registration

    FBR issues procedure for obtaining NTN, company registration

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued procedure for getting National Tax Number (NTN) and registration with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) through Virtual One Stop Shop (VOSS).

    The FBR and SECP have launched a one-window facility for Company incorporation and National Text Number (NTN) registration.

    This facility enables companies to be registered with SECP and FBR in one go without having to visit FBR offices or its website.

    For the convenience of all stakeholders, the process to be followed is outlined as under:

    Step 1- Taxpayer will visit the SECP website (https://www.secp.gov.pk) and complete the company incorporation application as before;

    Step 2- As soon as company is incorporated, data of the company and its directors will be forwarded to FBR through an automated web service;

    Step 3- FBR system will run an auto-process to verify if all the directors registered taxpayers of FBR. If all the directors are already registered taxpayers, then process will jump to Step 6;

    Step 4- If any Director(s) are not registered with FBR, system will automatically register each unregistered director on the basis of data provided by SECP;

    Step 5- System will send confirmation email and SMS to each director on successful registration;

    Step 6- System will automatically create FBR registration application on behalf of company, process the application and register the company within FBR;

    Step 7- System will send confirmation email and SMS to company representative on successful registration;

    Step 8- FBR will intimate SECP about registration of Taxpayers within FBR.

    The FBR said that the process from Step-3 to Step-8 is totally system-based without any human involvement which will save time and effort of the taxpayer and improve the efficiency of the system.

  • Bank Alfalah, Ghandhara Industries sign MoU

    Bank Alfalah, Ghandhara Industries sign MoU

    In a strategic move aimed at enhancing their market presence, Bank Alfalah Islamic and Ghandhara Industries Limited (GIL) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly promote the Isuzu D-Max Pickup variants through tailored auto finance solutions.

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  • SECP holds awareness session for NPOs on AML/CFT

    SECP holds awareness session for NPOs on AML/CFT

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has conducted an awareness session on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) in collaboration with of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), a statement said on Friday.

    The SECP said that the awareness session was conducted AML/CFT obligations of non-profit organizations (NPOs) licensed under section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, for Lahore-based registered intermediaries.

    Around 100 participants from the NPO sector, registered intermediaries and ICAP members were in attendance.

    An SECP official made a detailed presentation on the AML/CFT regulatory requirements as well as the mechanism for implementation of United Nations Sanctions Regime under resolutions 1267 and 1373 for designation of terrorist organizations and individuals.

    The session focused on the relevant recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force as well as findings of the National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment, including directions, channels and sources of terror finance, risk assessment of NPOs, and various policy, legislative and administrative measures for terror financing risk mitigation.

    It also helped participants in improving the understanding of suspicious transaction reporting requirements under the AML/CFT framework.

    The session also discussed the regulatory measures contained in the regulations for NPOs and intermediaries to prevent money laundering and terror financing abuses, supplemented by the best practices and recommendations contained in the AML/CFT guidelines for NPOs issued by it.

    The official emphasized the fact that regulatory action against non-compliant NPOs is a regular feature of the SECP’s enforcement strategy, which will continue in the future.

  • Informal donations prone to money laundering: SECP

    Informal donations prone to money laundering: SECP

    KARACHI: Pakistan has been rated amongst most charitable nations in the world but most donations are routed informally which makes the whole exercise prone for terror financing and money laundering, Waseem Ahmad Khan, Additional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said on Wednesday.

    He was addressing at a seminar organized by Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) at auditorium of Regional Tax Office (RTO) Karachi.

    He said that SECP and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had taken initiatives to fix the issues on Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Countering Financing Terrorism (CFT) pointed out by Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

    He informed the participants that FATF is a 37-member global body established in 1989 with mandate to combat money laundering, terror finance and nuclear non-proliferation. Besides it has also associates observers.

    Pakistan as a member has international obligations to comply with FATF recommendations and correspondingly it had promulgated relevant laws including Anti-Terrorist Act, 1997, Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, National Counter Terrorism Act, 2013 etc. and had also devised national action plan.

    Waseem Ahmad said that the SECP was undertaking enhanced due diligence on the basis of territorial / geo-political basis, sectoral lines and channel of donations.

    In order to realize the full impact of spirit of generosity of Pakistan horizontally, he suggested risk management should be set up by every non-profit organization (NPO).

    Khalid Mahmood, President, KTBA, in his welcome address thanked the speaker and audience who attended the seminar in a big number. The even was moderated by KTBA vice president Zeeshan Merchant.

  • Company registration crosses over 95,500 by February

    Company registration crosses over 95,500 by February

    ISLAMABAD: Total company registration with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has crossed 96,500 by end of February 2019.

    A statement issued by the SECP said that about 1,290 new companies were registered in February. As compared to the corresponding month of last financial year, it represents a growth of 26 percent raising the number of registered companies to 96,510.

    The massive increase is the result of the SECP’s various reforms measures, i.e. introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, one window facility for company incorporation and NTN generation, reduction of fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings of CROs etc.

    Around 75 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 22 percent were registered as single member companies. Three percent were registered as public unlisted companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP).

    The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 195 companies, construction with 166, services with 148, I.T. with 139, tourism with 119, food and beverages with 60, real estate development with 50, corporate agricultural farming with 45, education with 32, chemical, marketing and advertisement, and transport with 27 each, engineering, and fuel and energy with 24 each, pharmaceutical with 23, textile with 21, healthcare, and mining and quarrying with 20 each, communication with 15, auto and allied with 14, broadcasting and telecasting 13, logging 12, cables and electric goods with 11 and 58 companies were registered in other sectors.

    Foreign investment has been reported in 39 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Argentina, China, Denmark, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, Korea South, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden and the US.

    The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 468 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 322 and 240 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively.

    The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered, 81, 67, 45, 39, 24 and 4 companies respectively.