ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that regulators must maintain a balance between facilitating ease of doing business and ensuring effective enforcement of laws to promote a transparent and fair business environment.
He was chairing a meeting at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to review the Commission’s performance and discuss key reforms focused on deepening Pakistan’s capital markets and facilitating local and foreign investors.
SECP Chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu, Commissioners Imtiaz Haider, Muhammad Ali Farid Khwaja, Muzzafar Ahmed Mirza and Zeeshan Rehman Khattak, along with senior officials, attended the meeting. Advisors to the Finance Minister, Khurram Schehzad and Omer M Khan, were also present.
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He said a business-friendly regulatory framework is essential to encourage investment, support entrepreneurship, and strengthen market confidence.
Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu briefed the minister on SECP’s key achievements, including registration of a record 18,057 new companies, issuance of 149 new licences to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), and successful implementation of third-party motor insurance in Sindh, which recorded 1,300 percent growth within three months. He also highlighted the approval of 10 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and addition of 127,907 new investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange during the last six months, increasing the total investor base to over 583,052.
The minister was briefed on SECP’s enhanced supervisory and enforcement actions, including completion of 75 inspection reports, 13 investigations, issuance of 534 show-cause notices, and actions against illegal deposit-taking activities. SECP also issued 397 adjudication orders, resulting in penalties of over Rs. 20.857 million deposited into the Federal Consolidated Fund.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb appreciated SECP’s measures against non-compliant State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and emphasised improving governance standards. He directed SECP to keep Principal Accounting Officers of relevant ministries informed about compliance issues for timely corrective measures.
The minister also directed SECP to further simplify registration, licensing, and public offering processes through digitalisation and reduced human intervention to encourage business growth and new listings.
Dr Sidhu said SECP’s reform agenda is focused on strengthening People, Processes, and Technology to make regulatory services efficient, transparent, and responsive. He highlighted key initiatives including IBAN-based KYC verification, CDC “Asaan Connect” app, Broker Referral Program, KTrade-JazzCash partnership, restructuring of IFMP, a proposed Pakistan stock market-based ETF in China, and digital access to gold trading.
The Finance minister appreciated SECP’s reform initiatives and emphasised continued innovation, digital transformation, and regulatory facilitation to strengthen Pakistan’s financial markets.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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