LAHORE, March 19: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Abdul Rehman Qureishi has said attempts are being made to amicably resolve the dispute over the issuance of licence for the establishment of an Electronic Communication Network (ECN) based stock exchange.

He was talking to reporters after speaking at a workshop on “the responsibilities of directors and senior management of the listed companies” here on Wednesday.

“Yes, we have issued the licence for the setting up of the electronic exchange. We are also aware of the objections raised by the managements of the stock exchanges against it. We are now trying to resolve the issue. But I cannot say as to how the dispute would be settled,” the SECP chairman said in answer to a question.

The workshop was organized by the SECP in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to create awareness about corporate governance and strengthen institutional framework for bringing uniformity, transparency and fair treatment for the stakeholders in the corporate sector.

In answer to yet another question, he said the Commission was formulating rules and regulations for the non-bank finance institutions. He said the new rules would enable the SECP to monitor and keep checks on these companies.

Mr Qureishi said the fundamental objective of the SECP was to evolve an environment conducive for investment and growth. All regulatory measures taken by the Commission are directed to attain this goal, he said. He said investors, particularly institutions, placed greater confidence in companies which were perceived to have well defined vision, policies and professional management.

The SECP chairman was hopeful that the measures introduced by the SECP through its Code of Corporate Governance to improve corporate governance would restore the investors confidence and help the economy grow. “Governance derives its roots from the principles of transparency, equity, justice, fairness and disclosures and is a matter of commitment and belief,” he said.

He said adherence to good corporate governance standards should be given weightage while judging a company and its performance. He said more and more companies had realized the value of the corporate governance and some companies had voluntarily offered themselves for corporate governance rating. “In fact one financial institute, which is not listed, got itself rated for corporate governance and had announced its rating recently. This reflects the commitment of its management,” he added.

In order to provide facilities to the corporate sector, he said, the SECP had increased the time period for submission of quarterly accounts for the second quarter from one month to two months.