ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), in pursuance of its reforms agenda to support and encourage Fintech revolution in the country, has granted approval to launch of Pakistan’s first Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platform.

Finja, venture capital backed Fintech secured the approval under the first cohort of the SECP’s Regulatory Sandbox.

To highlight the impact of P2P lending and potential of technology for efficient credit disbursement and expanding financial inclusion, Finja organised an exclusive event here Wednesday.

SECP Chairman Aamir Khan was the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, Aamir Khan said that the SECP has placed significant focus on serving the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as they play a vital role in the economic development of any country.

To improve access to finance for the MSMEs, agri-borrowers and rural enterprises, the SECP has already operationalised the Secured Transaction Registry (STR), which went live on 30th April 2020.

So far, more than 125,000 security interests have been recorded in the registry.

This has allowed small businesses to obtain credit against their movable assets.

Similarly, the SECP is focusing on simplifying the Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE&VC) regime, so that the high growth and knowledge-based start-ups can have access to long-term capital, required to grow and expand.

"SMEs constitute approximately 90pc of businesses in Pakistan, employ 80pc of the non-agricultural labor force and contribute 40pc in country’s annual GDP. SMEs access to formal finance is limited to only 6pc of the total financing by the banking sector. Hence, it is evident that this segment is substantially underserved," he said.

However, the most significant measure of the SECP has been the introduction of the regulatory sandbox, under which six concepts were approved in the first cohort.

This initiative will encourage entrepreneurs and businesses to try and develop new ideas and, in the process, serve the end-users, and expand financial inclusion. Finja the dual-regulated new age Fintech, has introduced a new entity "Finja Lending Services'' (FLS) with a focus to provide digital credit to MSMEs and the people that they employ.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020