ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: Razi-ur-Rahman Khan on Monday completed his three-year term as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. His tenure saw the stock market touching new heights and worst lows.

Salman Ali Shaikh, the commissioner SECP’s Specialised Companies Division, the senior most commissioner in the SECP, has now taken over as the acting chief of the country’s frontline securities market and corporate regulator after a notification of his appointment was issued by the ministry of finance.

The government had not accepted the resignation of Mr Khan, which he had tendered in August last year, when the Pakistan Peoples Party government was still in search to fill in most of its ministerial and other high-profile posts.

Later, the board of directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) had to impose a floor on the KSE-index that lasted for three and a half months, the worst time for the bourses due to which the government could not afford to relieve the SECP chief.

It was on Jan 12, 2006, when Mr Khan replaced Dr Tariq Hassan as the SECP chairman. Dr Tariq was unable to save his job in the commission after he drew the ire of some officials of the finance ministry for trying to nominate them in a probe to the March 2005 stock market crash.

An official announcement issued by the SECP here says that Mr Shaikh has rich experience in public and private sector and has been serving as commissioner of SECP’s Specialised Companies Division since 2004.

“Mr Shaikh has an extensive experience spanning 32 years, mainly in banking and finance,” the announcement said.

Specifically, he has worked as a senior emerging markets banker with an expertise in large-scale debt recovery/remedial banking, insolvency reforms, financial sector restructuring, and regulatory/legal reforms. His expertise also includes senior management, corporate rehabilitation/restructuring and capacity building/target market cluster selection in the SME sector.

After starting his career with Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore, Mr Shaikh has spent the major part of his professional life with the American Express Bank, the Citibank and Habib Bank of Pakistan.

He is also serving on various focused groups and task forces with the government and other regulatory agencies (SBP, FBR and the CCP), Asia Pacific Real Estate Association and the International Organisation of Pensions Supervisors.