ISLAMABAD: The government has appointed Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), according to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Friday.

Dr Sidhu is currently serving as the chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), a position he assumed in August 2023.

Under his leadership, the CCP witnessed significant institutional turnarounds in its history. Within two years, the CCP reduced its court case backlog by over 70 per cent, with 434 cases decided out of 567 pending matters, helping restore the regulator’s credibility and enforcement capacity.

During Dr Sidhu’s tenure, the CCP recovered approximately Rs1.36 billion in penalties. In contrast, its total recoveries in the last 20 years were merely Rs20o million. The regulator also imposed over Rs2bn in fresh penalties through new enforcement actions.

As CCP head, Dr Sidhu launched a renewed crackdown on cartels and market abuse, initiating major investigations and actions against cartels in poultry, sugar, edible oil, telecom, and medical services. Several of these actions were upheld by the Supreme Court and the Competition Appellate Tribunal, providing strong judicial validation to CCP’s enforcement work.

Dr Sidhu also placed strong emphasis on consumer protection and deceptive marketing enforcement. The CCP imposed significant penalties on companies operating in real estate, FMCG, education, pharmaceuticals, and automobile sectors. These included Kingdom Valley, Unilever, FrieslandCampina Engro, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Hyundai Nishat, British Lyceum and 3N Lifemed, sending a clear signal against misleading business practices.

A major institutional reform during his tenure was the launch of the Market Intelligence Unit (MIU), CCP’s first AI-powered surveillance arm. This initiative marked a shift toward data-driven, proactive detection.

On the market facilitation front, the CCP processed 139 mergers across 34 sectors during Dr Sidhu’s tenure. High-profile transactions included the PTCL–Telenor merger, Shell Pakistan’s sale to Wafi Energy, and several deals in financial services, energy, and logistics. The PTCL–Telenor merger order, in particular, was widely noted by stakeholders for balancing investment facilitation with competition safeguards.

The CCP also set up a centre of excellence in competition law. Its purpose was to carry out competition assessment studies to modernise the legal and regulatory framework in every sector of the economy.

According to the CCP website, Dr Sidhu holds a Bachelor’s degree in law, an LLM (Master’s in Law) in banking, insurance and international business law, and a PhD from the University of Manchester. His doctoral research was focused on the investor protection and regulation of stock exchanges in the United Kingdom, the United States and Shariah-compliant stock exchanges.

He also earned a postgraduate diploma in civil litigation from the Manchester Law Society and certifications in mortgage and financial advice from the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

With over 20 years of professional experience, Dr Sidhu has worked with insurance companies, law firms and financial institutions in the UK, as well as government ministries in Pakistan.

Prior to joining CCP, Dr Sidhu had served as a senior legal consultant at the Ministry of Law. He has also worked in the Privatisation Commission in a similar role, and remained a research associate with leading academics in UK universities.