KARACHI: The maiden meeting of Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) reconstituted board of directors was held on Friday, with four seats occupied by the Chinese consortium which holds 40 per cent equity in the bourse.

Chinese directors included Que Bo of Shanghai Stock Exchange, Zheng HU of China Financial Futures Exchange, Ms Yu Huali of China Financial Futures Exchange and Li Peng of Pak China Investment Co Ltd.

The new board comprises 15 members that include Muneer Kamal, the chairman and SECP’s nominee and Moin M. Fudda, another nominee director of the regulator. The four elected directors on the board are: Abdul Majeed Adam; Ahmed Chinoy; Abid Ali Habib and Muhammad Yasin Lakhani. Independent directors on the board include Samir Ahmed, Rahat Kaunain Hassan, Tawfiq Asghar Hussain and Muhammad Naeem. By virtue of being the managing director of the KSE, Nadeem Naqvi rounds up the fifteen member reconstituted board of directors of PSX.

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Mr Zafar Hijazi also met the board members.

He stressed that the PSX management should be strong, professional and independent.

He reiterated that in line with SECP’s policy of zero tolerance towards market manipulation and unfair trade practices, the PSX must focus on strong enforcement, compliance and risk management.

Mr Hijazi said the Chinese consortium would play a pivotal role by ensuring a commercially driven strategy and sharing its experiences. A detailed three-year business plan is anticipated from PSX which should propose concrete measures for development and activation of the equity, debt, derivatives, SME and commodities markets, along with practical initiatives for expanding market outreach and investor base.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2017