Federal cabinet re-appoints Aamir Khan as SECP chairman

• Cabinet also re-appoints Aamir Khan as SECP commissioner because it is a pre-requisite for his re-appointment as the chairman.
• PM Imran Khan had appointed Aamir as SECP commissioner in 2018 and was later made the chairman in 2019.
• During cabinet meeting, Shaukat Tarin was apprised about the progress of SECP in the last three years.

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has re-appointed Aamir Ali Khan as Commissioner Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), for a "further term of three years with effect from December 6, 2021."

According to a notification issued by the Finance Division, on his re-appointment as SECP commissioner, the federal government has appointed him as the SECP chairman, in the exercise of powers conferred under Section 6 of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan had appointed Aamir as SECP commissioner in 2018 and he was later made the chairman in 2019.

According to a statement issued by the exchange commission, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin was apprised about the progress of SECP in the last three years.

“The country has adopted comprehensive reforms to facilitate the private sector, flow of capital to small businesses and startups, and to promote and strengthen the capital market,” the statement read.

The exchange commission has completely digitalised the process of registration for companies due to which the registration of companies in the country has increased by 70% in three years and the number of registered companies in Pakistan has increased from 92,000 to more than 156,000.

The cabinet committee was informed that a Secure Transaction Registry has been set up to facilitate the provision of capital to startups and SMEs, “which is an important step in securing loans to SMEs.”

Shedding light on the performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the commission despite COVID-19 the stock market continued to perform while in some countries the operations had to be stopped.

The process of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) has also been digitalised, as a result, during the past year 10 IPOs were introduced and the companies have raised Rs56 billion from the stock market in the period under discussion.