ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: The Registrar of Companies of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) took action against 192 companies during the month of July 2005 for violating different legal provisions.

The violations mainly pertained to delay in filing of annual accounts, various statutory returns and documents with the registrar of companies, including the late filing of annual returns on Forms A and B, stated official statistics issued by the registration department of the commission here on Monday.

The companies also violated rules pertaining to Forms-29, circulars for further issue of capital, returns of allotment, statements of beneficial ownership of listed securities and notices of special resolution passed by the companies.

A total of 113 cases related to late notification of election and appointment of directors and other officers on Forms-29 by corporate entities were registered.

Of the 192 cases, the registrar at the Company Registration Office (CRO) in Lahore adjudicated 132 companies while CROs at Karachi and Islamabad adjudicated 29 and two companies, respectively.

The remaining CROs adjudicated twenty-one cases in aggregate. The Registrar of Companies at the head office in Islamabad adjudicated eight cases. Total penalty imposed by the Registrars of Companies during last month amounted to Rs674,600.

An official announcement issued by the SECP stated that its monitoring and enforcement measures sought to infuse a culture of corporate discipline and statutory compliance. It was envisioned that these measures would encourage transparency in the disclosure of corporate affairs and lead to the establishment of sound corporate governance practices, the announcement said.