KARACHI, May 20: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), in collaboration with the FTSE Group (the global Index providers), arranged a “Pakistan equity roundtable” in London on May 15, a statement released by the SECP said on Tuesday.

The purpose of the roundtable was to create awareness abroad about developments in the Pakistani capital markets and investment opportunities.

The SECP observed that on Sept 20, 2007 the FTSE Group had announced results of its annual country classification review, whereby Pakistan was to be removed from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series in June 2008. However, following consultations, dialogues and efforts by the SECP, the FTSE Group deferred its decision.

“During the course of dialogues with the FTSE Index Review Committee, it transpired that the FTSE Group was not aware of the wide-ranging capital market reforms that had been introduced by the SECP over the past few years,” the SECP press release stated, adding the FTSE Group also suggested to the SECP to hold roundtables and conferences globally, especially in the United Kingdom, US, Hong Kong, Singapore etc, to acquaint capital market institutions, asset managers and index providers on the capital market reforms introduced by SECP.

The SECP press release stated that the Pakistan capital market had evolved over the last couple of years into a very transparent and equitable market place, able to stand on its own in the developed world.

The SECP said it had planned to launch a global awareness campaign in order to acquaint the international community on capital market developments and investment prospects in Pakistan.

The London Roundtable being the first in the series of awareness programmes attracted a large group of people from the UK financial sector.

The Pakistani delegates delivered comprehensive presentations, highlighting the regulatory framework, recent capital market reforms in Pakistani market and trading and settlement procedures.

The roundtable was followed by a number of meetings on May 16 with the London Stock Exchange, the Futures and Options Association, Pakistan Britain Trade and Investment Forum and leading fund managers.