Draft rules unveiled: licence to be mandatory for advisers and consultants: SECP

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will make it mandatory for advisers and consultants to obtain licenses from the commission for providing such services. According to the draft of Advisers and Consultants to the Issue of Securities Rules, 2016 issued by the SECP here on Monday, no person shall act or perform functions as advisers and consultants to the issue unless such person is licensed by the Commission under these rules.
Any person providing, on commencement of these rules, services as adviser and consultant to the issue shall be required to obtain a licence under these rules within six months of publication of these rules in the official Gazette. Any person may apply to the Commission for a licence as adviser and consultant to the issue under these rules, if such person is a company or a body corporate governed under a special enactment and possesses experience of not less than three years in the fields of stock brokerage, banking, corporate finance, accountancy, investment in listed securities, investment advisory, book building for securities or public offer of securities; is authorised by its constitutive document to act as adviser and consultant to the issue and meets the minimum capital or equity requirement, if any, set out for such companies by the Commission or the State Bank of Pakistan.
Any person may apply to the Commission for a licence as adviser and consultant if such person is rated by a credit rating company licensed by the Commission and has employed at least two professionals. Functions of the advisors and consultants to the issue: The adviser and consultant to the issue shall perform any or all of the following functions, namely: preparation of prospectus, information memorandum and related documents and ensuring that the same are prepared in accordance with the requirements of the applicable laws and regulations made thereunder; execution of agreements with other market intermediaries including the underwriters, bankers to the issue, ballotter and transfer agent, book runner and legal advisers to the issue or seeking approval of the regulatory authorities on behalf of the issuer or offerer relating to the issue including approval of the Commission for issue, circulation and publication of prospectus and obtaining approval of the securities exchange for listing of the security.