KARACHI, Aug 1: President, Management Association of Pakistan (MAP), Syed Masoud Ali Naqvi, has welcomed the recent directive of the SECP barring active brokers and brokerage firms to become director or a nominee director of a listed company.

An MAP press release quoted Naqvi as saying that the Code of Corporate Governance did contain a provision restricting active brokers and their spouses to act as director but after discussions with the stock exchanges, that requirement was made voluntary.

“The amendment now made will be another step in prohibiting unfair trade practices on the one hand and ensuring better corporate governance resulting in transparency and independence of the members of the boards of directors of the listed companies on the other”, he said.

The MAP president appreciated that the amendment had been made prospective and would apply to all directors to be elected after the specific date. He said that measures like these would “help improve the perception about the independence of board members and would also have bearings on insider trading.”