Corporate Law Services

03/08/2017

My experience with is different from others the mall is just good to watch but the management is worst. My wife was hit hard by a long wooden wall standing at the entrance which was not fixed properly on 21 June 2017 at Sapphire when we were visiting Lucky One Mall. Some kids were playing around that wall and my wife was standing behind it and sorting clothes from rack, suddenly a kid pushed that wall and the wall fall on my wife with full force. The wall was too much heavy and it hit my wife at head and on spine directly. My wife was in unconscious condition, head of my wife swallowed but there were no bleeding means internal injury was happened and then mall management came to me with a wheel chair and their management person Amjad whispered in my ear that sir we don't have any medical aid available right now as well as not a single ambulance is available so take your wife to hospital by your own. There aman foundation stall was also situated at ground floor but they also denied that they don't have ambulance right now. The mall management took my wife on wheel chair and continously forcing me to take her to hospital so that no one can notice the incident because from this their rating will goes down so they took us outside the mall and one of the staff member said that 60 70 rupay lagingay aap rickshaw main daal k lay jao and they took us out from mall and at the main road they hire a rickshaw and said aap jao hospital.

Is this treatment deserve by customer of a mall which is claiming that they are the biggest mall of South Asia? They haven't done any safety purpose for their customers. I am still sacrificing, my life gets worst because off that incident, my wife is not perfect but their representative Brigadier Farrukh is saying that was not a severe incident.

11/07/2017

18/05/2017

12/05/2017

16/11/2014

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has extended the filing date of Form 29 till Tuesday, November 18. Earlier, the last filing date was November 13 and 14 for the companies, which held their annual general meetings on October 30 and 31, 2014, respectively. Now the last dates for filing of Form 29 for companies which held their AGM on October 30 and October 31 is November 18, 2014. The SECP received many requests for extension in the filing date, mainly on the ground of companies facing difficulty in filing through eServices. The extension is envisaged to provide relief to such companies in filing their statutory returns without any hassle or paying additional fee.http://secp.gov.pk/news/PDF/News_14/PR_Nov14_2014.pdf

08/04/2014

SECP to introduce e-voting

ISLAMABAD, April 3: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) initiated the process for e-voting to facilitate members to vote for resolutions in the general meetings through e-voting. The SECP has provisionally approved the e-voting scheme and has drafted relevant regulations.

The technological advances have enabled members to participate in general meetings without being physically present. Electronic voting or “e-voting” is one such method which is becoming popular throughout the world to facilitate shareholders and to maximize their participation in general meetings for various approvals from members of a company.

The proposed regulations provide that companies shall communicate to their member the option to participate, through e-voting, in the business to be approved at the general meeting. The members opting for e-voting shall have to appoint the intermediary, nominated by the company, as their proxy. Members intending to cast an electronic vote are required to be authenticated through secured electronic signature provided by the intermediary, and shall cast vote online through the website of intermediary during the time specified in the notice of the meeting. The intermediary is required to keep the result of electronic vote confidential and cast vote on behalf of members acting as their proxy during the time of poll.

The process of e-voting is exhaustively elaborated through regulations in such a manner that it will not prevent the members from exercising their rights. For this purpose companies will have to make provision for taking a poll as the mode of voting and the appointment of non-member as a proxy in the respective articles of association if not, already provided. The choice and the manner of exercise of proxy e-voting shall be communicated to the shareholder through notice of meeting.

The regulations lay down qualifications and criteria for the intermediary for the process of e-voting and will be appointed by the company at least 30 days before meeting and shall have a certificate of accreditation issued by the Electronic Certification Accreditation Council established under Section 18 of the 2002 Electronic Transactions Ordinance.

E-voting will be beneficial to shareholders, especially the minority shareholders, of listed companies as they are widely located across the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan plus the, international geographical locations by virtue of listing of securities on the international stock exchanges. This is one more example of the SECP’s efforts to facilitate shareholders and developing corporate sector through effective use of technology.

The Companies (Proxy E-Voting) Regulations, 2014, will be placed before the Policy Board for its approval before publishing them to elicit the public opinion

17/01/2014

سیکورٹیز اینڈ ایکسچینج کمیشن آف پاکستان نے ملک میں گڈ گورننس کے فروغ اور لسٹڈ کمپنیوں کے لئے ان قوائد میں عمل درآمد آسان بنانے کے پیش نظر کوڈ آف کارپوریٹ گورننس میں ترامیم متعارف کروا دیں ہیں ۔

ان ترامیم کے ذریعے لسٹڈ کمپنیوں کے لئے چیف فنانشل آفیسر اور کمپنیوں کے انٹرنل آڈٹ کت سربراہ کے تقرر کے لئے اہلیت کی شرائط میں نرمی کی گئی ہے ۔ کوڈ میں ترمیم کے ذریعے کسٹڈ کمپنی کے چیف فنانشل آفیسر اور چیف آڈٹ آفیسر کے لئے فیلڈ میں متلقی تجربہ کی حد پانچ سال سے کم کر کے تین سال کر دی گئی ہے ۔ قوائد کے مطابق، کسی میں کمپنی میں آڈٹ یا اکاونٹنگ ڈیپارمنٹ میں کام کرنے کا تجربہ ہی متعلقہ تجربہ میں شمار ہو گا ۔

مزید ازاں ، لسٹڈ کمپنیوں میں آڈٹ کمیٹی کے لئے انڈیپنڈنٹ چئیرمین تعینات کرنے کی الزمی شرط میں بھی نرمی کر دی گئی ہے اور اب لسٹڈ کمپنیاں رضاکارنہ طور پر آڈٹ کمیٹی کے لئے خود مختار چئیرمین تعینات کرنے کی آزادی ہو گی۔ اس طرح، کمپنی کے نان ایگزیکٹو ڈائریکٹر کو چئیرمین آڈٹ کمیٹی تعینات کیا جا سکے گا۔

کوڈ آف کارپوریٹ گورننس میں یہ ترامیم انسٹیٹیویٹ آف چارٹرڈ اکاونٹنٹ اور انسٹیٹیوٹ آف کاسٹ اینڈ مینجمنٹ اکاونٹنٹ کی مشاورت سے کی گئیں ہیں جن کا مقصد لسٹڈ کمپنیوں کے لئے ان قوائد پر عمل درآمد کو آسان اور یقینی بنانا ہے ۔ ان ترامیم سے فنانس اور آڈٹ کی فیلڈ میں نئے آنے والوں کے لئے بھی آسانی پیدا ہو گی ۔

17/01/2014

January 13: The governance standards are dynamic and changing with the development of constantly evolving corporate sector and financial markets. This calls for a constant review of the governance framework to keep pace with global benchmarks. In an endeavor to align our governance regime with enhanced requirements of the present times and global best practices, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved amendments to certain provisions of the Code of Corporate Governance for listed companies. The amendments have been made taking into account the lessons learnt from the practical issues and considerations relevant to the listed companies and to ensure that it reflects changing governance concerns, practices and economic circumstances and best international practices.

The amended provisions relax eligibility requirements for the chief financial officer (CFO) and the head of internal audit (HOIA) for listed companies. The experience requirements for the CFO have been reduced from five years of handling financial or corporate affairs of a listed company or a bank/financial institution to three years of experience in a public practice (audit/accounting) firm or in managing financial/corporate affairs of a company. The experience requirements for HOIA have also been reduced from the earlier restrictive five years of relevant audit experience to three years in audit, finance or compliance function. As per an earlier clarification issued by the SECP, experience in a public practice (audit/accounting) firm would also be considered relevant audit experience.

These amendments have been approved following a review focused primarily on further refining practicality of the code for listed companies. The said amendments are expected to improve compliance with the code and encourage new entrants to the fields of finance, audit and related functions, thereby expanding the existing talent pool of professionals in the country.

Moreover, the mandatory condition of appointing an independent director as chairman of the audit committee has been made voluntarily to facilitate companies in appointing suitably qualified non-executive directors as chairmen to the said committee.

29/11/2013

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
has extended the date of filing of Form-A/B up to Monday, December 2, for other than listed companies and to Monday, December 16, for listed companies. The extensions have been
granted due to weekly holidays falling on November 30, and December 15—being filing dates for other than listed and for listed companies respectively—which held their annual
general meetings (AGMs) on October 31.

The filing date for annual audited accounts has also been extended up to December 2, for all companies, which held their AGMs on October 31, and are required by the law to file annual
audited accounts with the SECP.

In order to extend maximum facilitation, the Company Registration Offices of the SECP shall also remain open until 8 pm to collect returns/accounts from the companies on December 2.
It may be noted that it is mandatory for companies to file Form-A/B with the SECP within 30 days, in case of other than listed companies and within 45 days, in case of listed companies, from the date of holding of their AGMs.