ISLAMABAD, July 14: Former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Dr Tariq Hassan, has resigned from the posts of commissioner and member Company Laws Review Commission (CLRC) of the SECP, reliable sources told Dawn on Friday.

He has been holding the posts even after his dismissal as chairman of the SECP more than six months ago.

“Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has received the resignation of Dr Hassan (from the post of SECP commissioner) and has accepted it,” a source in the prime minister’s secretariat told Dawn.

Another source in the SECP said that Dr Hassan had submitted a separate resignation to the head of the CRLC. The resignation has been accepted.

The former SECP chief resigned last Saturday following a meeting of the National Assembly standing committee on revenue and finance in which some members had asked the adviser to the prime minister on finance, Dr Salman Shah, why was Dr Hassan still holding the two posts after having been sacked as SECP chief.

The incumbent SECP chairman, Raziur Rehman, had informed the committee that Dr Hassan’s tenure as commissioner was ending in August.

“You have already sacked me from the post of SECP chairman and now I myself resign from the post of commissioner,” a source quoted Dr Hassan as saying in his resignation submitted to the prime minister.

With the departure of Dr Hassan as commissioner only three commissioners remain now with the SECP, including Rashid Malik, commissioner companies law, who is also holding the additional charge of the securities market division; Salman Ali Shaikh, commissioner, specialised companies division, and Raziur Rehman, who is also a commissioner.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997, the commission is required to keep five specialised commissioners along with one post of commissioner to be occupied by the SECP chief.

Sources in the SECP said that holding the posts of commissioner and member CRLC by the former SECP chief was not illegal because he had only been removed from the post of SECP chief.

However, the way in which Dr Hassan was shown the door on Eid day had created a bitter environment in the organisation, which is why he never turned to the SECP to take up the role of a mere commissioner and a member CRLC.

They said Dr Hassan now feared that the government could include his absence from both the posts in the charge-sheet, which is being prepared against him in connection with the March 2005 crash of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). Therefore, he wanted to tender a formal resignation.

They also rejected rumours that the name of Dr Hassan was being put on the Exit Control List (ECL).

However, the sources said the SECP had started investigating whether Dr Hassan had any link with the Rs1.5billion Islamic Investment Bank Limited (IIBL) scam involving his father-in-law, who was chairman of the defunct IIBL.