ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed at a press conference on Monday that Tahir Mahmood, the acting chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), had fled the country, but copies of some documents available with Dawn show that Mr Mahmood is on 12 days’ ex-Pakistan leave.

These documents show that Mr Mahmood’s leave application was approved by the Prime Minister’s Office on Dec 19. They further show that he has been granted rest and recreation from Dec 24 to Jan 4 to visit Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

The information minister was replying to a question drawing his attention to rumours that several key figures, including the acting chairman of SECP, had fled the country.

Meanwhile, the acting chairman of SECP has written to the finance ministry from abroad in which he said that accusations made against him in the JIT report were incorrect and contrary to facts.

In the reply, Mr Mahmood said the State Bank had merged three banks to save MyBank and Atlas Bank, which were sinking along with the Arif Habib Bank.

The merger, he said, had been approved by the SBP and it had been exempted under Section 3(G) of Listed Companies and Takeover Ordinance. The banks did not require any permission from the SECP for the purpose.

Mr Mahmood said that section 3(G) of the ordinance exempted mergers approved by a court or a competent forum, in this case the SBP, from applicability of the Takeover Ordinance.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2019