ISLAMABAD: In order to facilitate the corporate sector in complying with the applicable regulatory requirements, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has issued draft Companies Regulations, 2022. It is a consolidated version of nine separate regulations, earlier framed under Section 512 of the Companies Act, 2017.

The consolidated regulations aim to standardize forms/applications filed by companies and make the regulatory regime easier to understand and comply with. The draft regulations have been placed on SECP’s website for soliciting public comments before final publication.

The proposed draft covers regulatory requirements applicable on company incorporation, post-incorporation compliance and reporting, issuance of license under Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, further issue of share capital, group registration, easy exit of companies, and registration of intermediaries.

After extensive review of the existing regulations, several procedures have been simplified. To facilitate end users, several forms have been merged resulting in a substantial reduction of existing forms from 75 to only 27.

Draft Regulations are available on SECP’s website at https://www.secp.gov.pk/document/sro-1119-i2022-draft-companies-regulations-2022-2/wpdmdl=45168. Interested parties, stakeholders and public can submit their comments through email at comments.ccd@secp.gov.pk within 14 days from the date of notification.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022