The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has become a signatory to the International Organisation of Securities Commission's Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation, Co-operation and the Exchange of Information (MMoU). This will give the SECP an edge to combat cross-border crimes and to promote financial stability in the country.
The Madrid-based IOSCO is an international standard-setter for securities markets regulation and an international forum for co-operation among securities' regulators to protect investors, maintain fair, efficient and transparent markets and mitigate to systemic risks. The SECP has been an IOSCO member since 1998. The organisation has over 199 members from 114 jurisdictions that have committed themselves to implementing international standards of regulatory oversight and to developing strong co-operation in enforcement action against misconduct.
The MMoU is an international framework for co-operation and a key implementation tool for effective enforcement. It equips the securities market supervisors to improve the effectiveness of cross-border securities markets supervision and contributes to the global effort to combat cross-border securities market misconduct. An MMoU signatory can request other signatories' co-operation to deal with securities' crimes such as insider dealings, market manipulation, manipulative practices and wrongful practices by investing advisors, brokers, and other market intermediaries.
The SECP's becoming signatory to this multilateral information sharing arrangement testifies to its ability to meet international standard for securities enforcement co-operation. Earlier, the SECP was put on Appendix B of the MMoU and it had been asked to make some improvements. The recent assessments found that the SECP had adequately addressed the previously identified gaps. So, it was invited to graduate from the status of IOSCO MMoU Appendix B to MMoU Appendix A, joining a group of 72 other jurisdictions listed under Appendix A.
In a statement, Mohammad Ali, SECP Chairman, said: "Signing the MMoU is a testimony to the SECP's commitment to protecting investors and maintaining integrity of Pakistan's capital markets from the risks posed by cross-border market misconduct. Being an MMoU signatory will help the SECP to reduce the ability of offenders to evade detection where activities take place across different jurisdictions and will increase the attractiveness of our markets to inward investment." -PR