ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has relaxed certain conditions of Initial Public Offering (IPO) regulations for corporate sector.

The commission has invited public comments over the draft amendments to Public Offering (Regulated Securities Activities Licencing) Regulations 2017, which is focused on rejuvenating IPOs.

The draft proposes that companies with less than three-year operational track record would be eligible for listing, the requirement of audited accounts has been reduced from 5 to 2 years and objective criteria for listing of greenfield projects has been introduced.

An official of the SECP said that the amendments in IPO framework have been introduced to encourage new listings, simplifying listing process and increasing capital formation, besides providing ease of doing business.

“The amendments are also expected to bring fresh investments in the capital markets as well as the service or manufacturing sectors, instead of parking money in the real estate or dumping it in gold,” the official added.

The amendments highlighted that an applicant which is eligible for Trading and Self-Clearing or Trading and Clearing category of licence as a securities broker under the Securities Brokers (Licencing and Operations) Regulations 2016 and has opted to apply for licence of consultant to the issue and/or underwriter as a part of application for licence of a securities broker or application for conversion to any category of securities brokers shall not be required to submit a separate application for licence under these regulations. For renewal of licence no separate application will be required.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2020