Senator and former finance minister Saleem Mandviwalla on Wednesday said that “The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is not addressing the core issue of the stock market.”
He held that the SECP actions against brokers and threats of using the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are only hurting sentiments, which is evident by the current wave of selling by foreigners’ months before Pakistan’s inclusion into the MSCI index. “These kinds of actions will keep genuine investors away from the market and cause an artificial crisis,” he said.
The senator questioned why the commission had been unable to protect investors despite nine types of audits and compliances. Moreover, these round the year inspections and audits have become errant to compliant brokers, the senator maintained.
“It is also suspicious to see how some brokerages have been able to pass through audits for years on end without any of their non-compliances coming to the fore. And only now, once the Chinese are ready to take over, has the SECP decided to reign in these brokers who had been non-compliant for years,” Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said.
“The SECP must rethink its strategy without and stay within the ambit of the law. It must listen to elected representatives,” he concluded.
