There are people who believe that it was all in their stars. A big reason for the success of Prime Minister, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, in turning around Pakistan's economy, they say, was because he was "at the right place at the right time".

It is impossible to fathom a reason how foreign exchange reserves could have swelled from just under one month's import requirement to that of over a year; how the country could have been pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy and how it could be disentangled from the clutches of the IMF and World Bank after decades of total dependence on the donor agencies.

Few men will disagree that the events following September 11, 2001 and Pakistan's willingness to act as front-line partner in war against terror were the reasons that brought the bonanza.

But Shaukat Aziz was also lucky in another way. He managed to put together a team of managers who could deliver on his economic and regulatory reform agenda. Dr. Ishrat Husain, pursued a fiscal and monetary policy that put a screeching halt to the slide of the Rupee and lowered interest rates that helped to ease burden of debts on corporate sector and improve its profitability.

On the corporate regulatory side, he had Khalid Mirza at the helm of affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Mirza launched Aziz's reforms agenda in letter and spirit.

In the face of intense opposition from quarters with vested interest, Mirza set about to discipline the country's capital markets for which he launched host of reform measures; He specified rules to improve risk management mechanism; the disclosure requirements of listed companies on timely bases and issuance of accounts on quarterly basis; rationalised the capital adequacy and exposure requirements of members; put into place circuit breakers on price fluctuations and set up the Monitoring and Surveillance Wing.

But two of the most revolutionary measures on which Mirza faced the greatest of opposition was the implementation of the T+3 system and the restructuring of the Board of Directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange.

It was only with the passage of time that stock brokers realized that those two steps on which they had wanted to hang Mirza by a sour apple tree, were indeed best for the market.

And so was the implementation of 'corporate code of governance', which was enforced under Khalid Mirza's guidance and which everyone now recognizes as the best thing to have happened to the country's corporate sector and the stock market.

There was hardly a field within his realm and needing reforms, where the chief watchdog hesitated to step in. He even brought into sharp review the hitherto untouched accounting and auditing profession.

Naturally, Mirza made more enemies and fewer friends and interestingly when somebody pointed that out to him, he laughed and said: "I consider that as a sign of my success".

He strongly believed that regulator and regulatee can never be friends. Khalid Mirza has since left to take up the job in the World Bank, but even his worst enemies would admit that Mirza was one of the finest and toughest chief regulator that the SECP has ever had.

Regulation is not a bed of roses. And Dr. Tariq Hasan who stepped into Mirza's shoes, completed the first year in office on August 18, 2003. He is expected to push ahead with the 'second generation' reforms.

Dr. Tariq Hassan said in the 2003 Annual Report: "In my view, regulation is a means to an end and not an end in itself". He asserted that the role of corporate and securities regulation in an emerging market was two fold: (i) to ensure order in the financial markets; and (ii) to foster economic development in the country.

The vision of the Commission, he stated, was, therefore, being expanded to ensure the development of a modern and efficient corporate sector and capital market, based on sound regulatory principles, that provides impetus for high economic growth and foster social harmony in the country.

Dr. Tariq Hassan listed challenges that the Commission was faced with. These included-widening and deepening the capital market; broadening the equity base; developing the corporate debt market; developing specialised financial services i.e NBFCs and insurance; establishing principles for good corporate governance, strengthening risk management measures and encouraging corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investing; improving regulatory compliance and strengthening enforcement; strengthening professional support services to the corporate sector; developing a comprehensive and integrated policy framework for the holistic regulation of the financial sector; facilitating the integration of Pakistani market with global markets; raising national regulatory standards to conform to international standards and best practices to the extent possible and desirable; facilitating resolution of corporate disputes; and capacity building of the Commission.

Dr. Tariq Hassan also recently announced that the Commission had decided to put in place the Financial Scam Law. The Law had been approved by the Policy Board and was now being examined by the commission.

The SECP chief also said that the Commission was working on the establishment of a Financial Crimes Wing to keep an eye on the stock market. But perhaps the two greatest challenges before the commission are the demutualization and merger of stock exchanges and a shift from 'badla' to margin financing-both by January 2005.