USAID-supported workshop on 'Pakistan Private Equity' regulatory regime ends

A USAID-supported consultative workshop on Pakistan Private Equity regulatory regime concluded, here on Thursday. The workshop was organized by the USAID Financial Market Development (FMD) Project in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
Over 60 participants from a cross section of stakeholders, including insurance firms, asset management and investment companies, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and companies with large provident funds attended it with a view to gather sector input on Private Equity Market Regulations in Pakistan.
This workshop was the second in the series rolled-out in key cities of Pakistan. The first event in this series was held in Lahore on 18 December 2017. These workshops are aimed at streamlining and finalizing the draft proposal on regulatory amendments in private equity funds, which had been developed earlier by USAID Financial Market Development Project.
Imran Inayat Butt, Executive Director at SECP presided over the Karachi session. Muneeb Zia, a legal expert, presented the draft proposal for amendments while Kashif Mustafa, Chief Operating Officer of Lakson Investments Limited gave a presentation providing the industry perspective. This was followed by a panel discussion.
Supported and led by USAID Financial Market Development Project, this consultation will pave way towards an enabling private equity regulatory regime in Pakistan and help bring down the cost of doing business and boost foreign investments.
Imran Butt, thanked the participants for their recommendations and said, "Industry participation will positively impact the business environment for private equity funds in Pakistan. The recommendations from the two workshops in Lahore and Karachi will be collated and help strengthen the draft proposal."
Senior policymakers and stakeholders who participated were hopeful that the outcome of this consultative workshop will have a positive impact on PE Funds. The CEO of an investment firm participating in the event said: 'There is a great deal of work to be done and the workshop provided us a platform to engage in discussions with both SECP and the State Bank of Pakistan, the regulatory agencies."
USAID's FMD Project is a multi-year project to assist and promote the development of competitive and diversified debt capital markets in Pakistan. The project is supporting the Government of Pakistan in strengthening domestic debt security issuances; improvement of regulatory frameworks for efficient debt capital markets as well as promoting trading and secondary markets.