The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has welcomed an initiative by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to consult stakeholders on a draft of the 1984 Companies Ordinance, saying the business community's involvement in evolving trade- and industry-related laws is a must to create trade- and investment-friendly atmosphere in the country.
President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, speaking at a round-table consultative session jointly arranged by the Lahore Chamber and the commission, which also drew in Company's Law Commissioner Tahir Mahmood, Advisor Abdul Rehman Qureshi and Company Registrar Javed Hussain, said the commission was an important regulatory body in the country ensuring transparency in the financial market.
He also said the 1913 Company Act was replaced with that of the 1984 Ordinance in 1984 and despite amendments in 1999 and 2002, the ordinance failed to give the desired results. "The draft of the 1984 Company Ordinance will help the business community understand the company laws, rules and regulations," he said.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan's notifications, guides, rules and regulations should be published in Urdu to make them easier for the business community to comprehend them. "Commissioner Mahmood claimed the company's law was "the mother of all laws." "Therefore, all efforts are being made to make it result oriented and beneficiary for the business community," he added. Registrar Hussain earlier gave a detailed presentation to the house on the aims and objective of the new law as his audience posed questions.