ISLAMABAD, Dec24: The government has appointed a former broker of the Karachi Stock Exchange as the chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) bypassing the rules and creating a case of conflict of interest.

Apart from the chairman, three commissioners have also been appointed by the ministry of finance through a notification issued here on Friday.

The government has appointed Muhammad Ali Ghulam Muhammad, a former director in Fortune Securities, as the new chairman of the SECP. He disposed of his stakes in October 2010. He has also been at senior positions in Carr Securities and Elixir Securities.

The three commissioners appointed by the government are Etrat Rizvi, Ashraf Hayat and Imtiaz Hayder.

The SECP has been operating under one commissioner and without a chairman since the start of December and after these appointments the SECP now has four commissioners and a chairman.

Etrat Rizvi, was a former commissioner specialised in Companies Division and the Professional Services and Policy Division in 2003-04, and was recently the chief executive of a mutual fund, National Asset Management Company Ltd.

Ashraf Hayat is the former secretary Planning Commission, while Imtiaz Hayder has been the managing director/CEO of Islamabad Stock Exchange in the recent past. He has also been in the SECP as executive director Securities Market Division.

Sources said that his name for the slot of commissioner SECP has been recommended by governor Punjab. Mr Hayder is a business graduate with a law degree and 20 years of experience in corporate finance, regulations of capital markets and general management.

He used to be the Group head corporate finance, compliance and business development at AKD (Aqeel Karim Dhedi Securities).

However, the move is seen by the market players as another case of conflict of interest by the government by appointing the stake holders in the capital markets regulator.

Strong resentment against appointment of former stake holders in the SECP was expressed by the commissioner Legal, SECP Tariq Ausaf Hussain, who retired early this month.

Sources in the KSE said that Muhammad Ali Ghulam Muhammad is a friend and personally known to Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Meanwhile, a research analyst in the KSE talking to Dawn said that appointing somebody from the market could lead to a situation where few hands would be manipulating the stock exchanges.