The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has implemented five manuals for greater transparency and efficiency. They deal with inspection, enquiry/ investigation, adjudication, litigation and offsite surveillance. They will be used by the Security Market Division, Company Law Division, and Specialised Companies Division.
Muhammad Ali, the SECP chairman, on Wednesday described the development as a great achievement. 'It is a life-changing event in the history of the SECP.' Enforcement is the most important function of the SECP, he said. The standardisation of this function across the board is a very important first step towards our aim of improving the standards of all our internal processes and procedures, added the SECP chairman.
'In this way we will be introducing greater transparency and better defined allocation of responsibilities within the organisation'. He was addressing the SECP officers on the occasion of a presentation that was organised to highlight the salient features of the manuals.
The SECP employees in Karachi and Lahore attended the presentation via video link. The manuals are aimed at reducing duplication of effort, introducing more efficiency and effective processes, standardising all processes and introducing adequate checks and balances. The SECP has established mechanisms to ensure that all officers fully comply with these manuals.
The five manuals are entitled: inspection manual, offsite surveillance and monitoring manual, enquiry and investigation manual, adjudication manual and litigation management manual. The manuals have been drafted by Barrister Amber Darr, and reviewed and revised by a 15-member SECP committee.-PR