ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Chairman Zafar Hajazi has said that the organisation will have the ability to conduct investigations against money laundering, fraud and terror financing.
Talking to journalists about the Companies Ordinance 2016, he said the new ordinance was 80 percent a facilitative law. He also added that although a lot of time and effort had been spent drafting this law in detail, however, the regulator was ready to deliberate on new proposals given by stakeholders. He said that they have summoned a registrars’ conference on Monday for further deliberation on this law.
Hajazi mentioned that the regulator was sending notices to 700 to 1000 companies which had offshore investments, asking for exact information about their investments in order to maintain transparency.
He further said that under the Companies Ordinance 2016, if some company provides false information then it would be considered a criminal offence, with the regulator being able to impose a punishment of one to seven years of imprisonment on the company’s director.
The chairman discussed the details of section 452 of the new law. He said that this section, on the Companies Global Register of Beneficial Ownership, provides that every substantial shareholder or officer of a company incorporated under the ordinance who has 10% or more shares in a foreign company or corporation, must report the relevant details. He must do so on a specified form to his company within 30 days of acquiring such a position, with the company then responsible for submitting the information to the registrar on a special return filed along with the annual return. The Commission shall keep a record of the information received in the global register.
He said that the new amendment had been introduced keeping in view international practices and was aimed at maintaining transparency. He mentioned that it would be helpful in addressing illicit financial flows and would help to tackle corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.
