The federal cabinet has reportedly changed the Board of Directors (BoD) of Sarmaya-E-Pakistan Limited (SPL) after the Ministry of Law and Justice opposed inclusion of political figures like Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues on the Board, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
The federal cabinet in its meeting held on November 15, 2018 approved the proposal of Finance Division titled "incorporation of a holding company for the management of Public Sector Companies in the name of "Sarmaya-E-Pakistan Limited (SPL) meant to revive 193 state owned entities, running in loss and manage their affairs in an efficient and transparent manner."
The model and idea of SPL is taken from Singapore and Malaysia. The board will submit its recommendations to cabinet for further action. The ministries concerned have already started work on revival of these entities.
The composition of the Board of Directors of SPL as approved by the federal cabinet was as follows;(i) Prime Minister - Chairman;(ii) three Ministers/ Advisors-Directors and ;(iii) seven members from the private sector with eminent professional experience - Directors.
The decision of the federal cabinet along with draft incorporation documents were shared with Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting before applying to SECP. Ministry of Law and Justice raised concerns over inclusion of Prime Minister and Ministers/ Advisors, as political office holders, in the Board of Directors of SPL. Therefore, the matter was re-examined in consultation with Law Ministry and SECP. As a result of these deliberations, and to avoid any legal complications, Finance Minister proposed that the composition of the Board of Directors of the SPL may be revised as follows ;(i) Secretary Finance;(ii) Secretary Industries and Production;(iii) Secretary Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and ;(iv) eight members from private sector with eminent professional experience, one of them will be Chairman of the Board.
Finance Division further proposed that the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) may also be constituted for oversight of the SPL. The composition of the Cabinet committee submitted for consideration is as follows;(i) Prime Minister - Chairman;(ii) Minister for Finance;(iii) Federal Minister for Energy (Power Division);(iv) Minister for Privatisation -Member;(v) Advisor to Prime Minister on Industries and Production and (vi) Advisor to Prime Minster on Institutional Reforms and Austerity - Member.
The Cabinet Committee will nominate eight members of the Board of Directors from the private sector, one of whom the committee will appoint as the Chairman of the Board.
The sources said that federal cabinet in its meeting held last week approved the new proposal of Finance Division.