KARACHI, July 2: Justice Saleem Akhtar, former Federal Tax Ombudsman and Chairman of the Stock Market Task Force, on Saturday presented the report of the task force to Dr Tariq Hassan, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The task force, constituted by the SECP, included besides Justice Saleem Akhtar, Dr Zubair Khan, Shahid Kardar and Sultan Allana, while Aadil Naeem Khan acted as secretary to the task force.

The terms of reference of the task force were to identify causes of the situation arising in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges during January 1 to March 31, analyze the role of various market participants and investigate allegation of market manipulation. It was to examine the role of various stakeholders, including the frontline and apex regulators, financial institutions, and brokers at the three bourses, and to suggest operational and regulatory reforms.

The task force finalized its report after having met all the stakeholders, including brokers, representatives of financial institutions, managements of the three stock exchanges, the SECP, capital market experts.—APP