In order to study any crisis, it is important to note what happened leading up to the crisis, what was done once the crisis was going on and steps taken in its aftermath to prevent it from happening again in the future. In a market like Pakistan, where capital market participants look to control and exploit the system in their favour, it is important that a regulatory body like the SECP looks to protect the interest of smaller investors who typically enter the market mostly with their life savings to invest and expect that when they do invest, the SECP will look to protect them from the sharks present in the system. The stock market crash of 2000 shows that SECP was not well-equipped and did not have a capable enough staff to be able to foresee the coming crisis.
In addition to that, they did nothing substantial or material while the crisis was going on and put in no considerable guardrails once the crisis ended to prevent another one from happening. Their lack of action and inability meant that the smaller investors lost their life savings in the market and later lost confidence in the market which would take years to recover. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
