ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has formed a committee in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (Pide) to promote corporatisation.

It will be headed by SECP Executive Director Mussarat Jabeen and will have two more officers from the commission. Dr Nadeem-ul-Haq will head the committee from Pide.

The committee is tasked to review the existing regulatory structure and identify impediments to the registration of companies.

While PIDE was involved in supporting policy formations and the ICAP represented the functionaries at business operations, the SECP was the corporate sector regulator.

The committee aims to provide practical recommendations including fiscal reforms to encourage corporatisation for sustainable economic development.

The initial working paper of the SECP has said that the total number of registered companies in Pakistan has reached 200,000 by the end of August. However, it was insignificant given the number of businesses operating across the country.

The SECP paper has said that the number was low despite the ease of doing business measures taken by the SECP as currently 99.8 per cent of enterprises are registered online and 24pc complete the registration process on the same day.

An SECP spokesperson could not give a clear answer to the query as to why the majority of businesses were not registered.

The SECP has said that measures and regulatory changes have consistently been made to facilitate company incorporation through automation and streamlining of processes.

“While it has reduced the overall time of starting a business in Pakistan, but, there is a need to promote corporatisation by identifying and addressing bottlenecks and providing concrete recommendations to achieve sustainable economic development,” the spokesperson added.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2023