ISLAMABAD: Various lobbies and groups have become visibly active in the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) since these regulatory bodies have no regular chairmen.

The government seems deliberately delaying appointing full-fledged heads of these market regulators as it is still in search of ‘suitable’ candidates.

The SECP has been under an acting chairman since April 2013 as the appointment of Muhammad Ali was declared void by the apex court in the same month.

Without a regular head the functioning and decision-making process has slowed down and lobbies are becoming more active at the SECP, and even the annual report 2012 has yet not been finalised. As a result differences have been cropped up among the four commissioners of the SECP.

Similarly, after the retirement of Rahat Kaunan Hassan as chairperson CCP in November 2013, Dr Joseph Wilson was appointed acting chairman by the finance ministry despite the fact that Mr Wilson’s tenure as member CCP expired the same month.

In continuation of the hectic lobbying, the CCP on Thursday appointed Rana Yousuf Mustafa a director advocacy that is equivalent to grade 19 and 20 without any advertisement or interview, while the post requires a minimum experience of 15 years, but Mr Mustafa has around 8 years of experience.

It is worth mentioning that Mr Rana had resigned from the CCP as joint director protocol in October 2012 to join the SECP as deputy director, but he was later terminated from the service during the probation period.
His perks in CCP includes a 1300CC car, gross salary Rs216,880 and other privileges.