November 18, 2006	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs10 million on M/s Clearshore Ltd, its directors and directors of Ahmed Spinning Mills Limited (ASML) for violation of the Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting Shares and Takeovers) Ordinance, 2002.

An official announcement issued by the SECP here on Friday said that the directors of ASML, acting in concert with Clearshore, disposed of company investment in shares of M/s United Sugar Mills Limited (USML) to Clearshore at a price of Rs16 per share.

Subsequently, the Clearshore’s holdings in USML were sold off at Rs333 per share, thus depriving ASML’s shareholders of their rightful share of Rs213.425 million.

The SECP has also restrained Clearshore and the directors of ASML from receiving the balance consideration on the sale of USML’s shares and has directed that the payment be diverted to be held in trust.

"The SECP, in keeping with its mandate and declared objectives, has acted in the interest of the investors, otherwise, the transfer of payment would have been harmful to the interest of the shareholders," the official announcement said.

The commission works to ensure compliance and transparent functioning in corporate entities to promote investors confidence, it added.