ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: The Privatisation Commission on Saturday issued policy guidelines for privatisation through capital market transactions in compliance with the decision of the cabinet committee.

The guidelines will ensure the privatisation policy of supporting capital market through the sequenced divestment of shares in State-owned Entities (SOEs) through domestic and international stock exchanges. Divestment of SoE's through capital market transactions will add depth to the local capital market and will provide shared ownership to both retail and institutional investors.The public offerings through stock exchanges and international listings (GDRs) will be done on case-to-case basis tailored to the circumstances of each enterprise.

The policy states that where found expedient, the entity will be listed before adoption of the PPP (public private partnership) mode to benefit from capital market price discovery mechanism.

The PC is mandated to divest title, interests, rights, ownership and control in the SoEs by means of various modes of privatisation.

Section 25 of the PC Ordinance stipulates that the commission shall carry out privatisation in accordance with the prescribed procedure, through any of the modes, including sale of assets and business; sale of shares through public auction or tender; public offering of shares through a stock exchange; management or employee buyouts by management or employees of a SoE, lease, management or concession contracts or any other method as may be prescribed. TOKYO, Feb 19: A Japanese court has ordered the government to give one man a record $2.4 billion tax refund, newspapers reported on Saturday.—AFP