ISLAMABAD: Tensions continued unabated between the stockbrokers and the management of the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the upcoming elections of PSX board, with the apex regulator, the SECP, caught in the crossfire.

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) shot back at a claim made by the brokers a few days ago that the SECP had agreed to not reappoint any of the existing independent directors of the PSX board after the elections scheduled to be held in April.

“I am directed to communicate that we categorically deny the comments and inferences attributed to the SECP chairman,” the apex regulator said in a letter sent to PSX Stockbrokers Association President Hamid Nazir Kehar. “To avoid any misrepresentation in the future, you are advised to please exercise due caution going forward.”

Meanwhile, in a statement the spokesman said the intent of the regulator was to comply with the requirements of law and it has no role in the nomination of independent directors.

“The commission shall only approve the name of the independent directors among those nominated by the PSX Board,” the spokesperson added.

The Demutualisation law and the Articles of Association of PSX clearly provide that the exchange’s board would be reconstituted once the process of demutualisation is completed.

The new PSX board is set to be constituted after elections on April 19 and will provide representation to minority shareholders who bought 20 per cent shares issued under PSX’s IPO, while a woman director will also have a seat on the PSX board as per the Companies Act 2017.

At the same time the response by the SECP has been taken with a smile by the PSX Stockbrokers Association, which says the regulator has finally recognised it after five years as a representative body.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018