LAHORE, Jan 15: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Chairman Dr Tariq Hassan on Saturday said that the prohibition of use of group accounts by Central Depository System participants from March 31 would go a long way in ending 'benami culture' and bringing more transparency in the stock market.

"This is yet another step by the commission to bring more transparency in the capital market. We already introduced Know Your Client (KYC) principle to achieve this objective," he said while talking to newsmen at Regional Conference organized by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) at Aiwan-e-Iqbal here.

He said that this step would also boost the confidence of investors in the stock market. He said that a task force comprising the officials of SECP and Central Board of Revenue (CBR) was working to rationalize the taxation structure for the corporate sector.

Dr Tariq said that all the three stock exchanges of the country would submit their plans for demutualization and merger by March 31. He said that the National Commodity Exchange was likely to become operational in March after the nod from the law division and ministry of finance.

Earlier, chairing a session of Regional Conference of ICAP and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Dr Tariq Hassan said that the SECP was working to promote cost-effectiveness in the corporate sector.

He also talked about the steps taken by the SECP to streamline the affairs in the stock market and the corporate sector. He said that the commission had also spelled out a number of requirements regarding external auditors in the Code of Corporate Governance which was presently applicable to the listed companies.

The SECP chairman said that the commission had also finalized amendments in the Chartered Accountants Ordinance in consultation with ICAP and submitted these to the government for notification. The revised ordinance, he said, seeks to provide a more effective regulatory framework for the profession of chartered accountants. -APP