The federal government on Saturday appointed Aamir Khan as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) with immediate effect, a notification issued by the Finance Division said.

Khan replaces Farrukh Sabzwari, who was appointed the corporate sector regulator's chairperson just seven months ago.

The federal cabinet had last week decided to change chairmen of both SECP and its Policy Board, ending a long-standing dispute between the two.

Khan's appointment was approved to replace Sabzwari while Syed Masoud Ali Naqvi was appointed chairman of the SECP Policy Board in place of Khalid Mirza. Sabzwari and Mirza had developed differences over policy issues eventually leading to the dismissal of both, Dawn reported.

However, Sabzwari will continue to serve as a commissioner in the SECP.

The PTI government had appointment Khan as an SECP commissioner in November last year.

Aamir Khan, who took charge of his new office today, has almost 30 years of experience in banking, capital markets, structuring of financial solutions/products, leading national initiatives, business transformation, and regulatory reform.

He has been serving as executive director in various SECP departments since 2012 and has been involved in the launch of Commodity Murabaha at PMEX, agri-related initiatives and bringing microfinance companies into SECP’s regulatory ambit.

Khan has also served on senior positions at Standard Chartered Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, and American Express Bank Ltd.