KARACHI, July 9: Foundations for the setting up of Institute of Corporate Governance was laid on Friday, when regulators and representatives of major bodies of the private sector agreed on establishment of such an institute.

The proposed institute would be named, "The Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

A statement released by the Securities and Exchange Corporation of Pakistan (SECP), Company Registration Office, Karachi Region, stated that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the founding members to set out their agreement on the need for coordination among signatories for the establishment and successful operation of PICG and nomination of authorized promoters to incorporate and register the PICG.

The SECP press release stated that the signing ceremony took place at the conclusion of meeting of the founding members of PICG. The chairman SECP, Dr.Tariq Hassan chaired the meeting.

In addition to the representatives of SECP, the meeting was attended by representatives of: State Bank; Pakistan Banks Association; Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Leasing Association of Pakistan; Modaraba Association of Pakistan; Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan; Management Association of Pakistan; Karachi Stock Exchange; Lahore Stock Exchange; Islamabad Stock Exchange; Institute of Business Administration; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan; and Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan.

"The founding members would also include Investment Banks Association of Pakistan; Insurance Association of Pakistan and the Lahore University of Management Sciences," the SECP press release stated.

The MoU provides that PICG would be registered as a company limited by guarantee. It also lays out that the signatories would encourage constituent members to promote on-site and distance training and education programmes for their employees offered by PICG. Moreover, any other allied, incidental or ancillary matters would be addressed in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of PICG.