NA passes law to regulate futures market

New legislation empowers SECP to suspend permit of non-compliant individuals

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed the Futures Market Bill, 2015 aimed at regulating the futures market fairly, efficiently and transparently, and protecting investors who trade in the commodity.

The bill was moved by Secretary Parliamentary Affairs for Finance and Revenue Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan on behalf of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The futures market is presently being regulated under the Securities and Exchange Ordinance (SEO), 1969 by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The SECP feels that the law remains fundamentally incomplete, lacks a proper and logical structure, and suffers from numerous inconsistencies and gaps.

“There is a need to repeal the SEO 1969 and replace it with a comprehensive, modern and all-encompassing piece of futures law,” read the statement of objects and reasons of the Futures Market Bill.

Under the new law, the SECP, when it becomes aware of an inability by a regulated person to comply with financial resources regulations, can suspend the individual’s licence or permit to carry on with business.

The house also passed another bill to amend the responsibilities of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). The amendment bill, introduced by Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal, stated that a member of the council “shall be responsible to disclose any conflict of interest as and when it arises and shall also file a declaration for non-conflict of interest annually.” It also punishes any member of the council found to have conflict of interest.

“In the past there used to be a practice that members of the council would run their own medical colleges hence influencing the decisions of the body,” Saira said.

The amendment was pending for the last two and a half years.

Question hour

During question hour, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rahman infuriated Pakistan Peoples Party members when she accused the previous government of all wrongdoings in her ministry.

She claimed the ad-hocism and mismanagement were rampant in the IT ministry under the PPP government. The state minister added that under the present government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, investment in the country’s telecom sector increased 60%.

Meanwhile, in reply to a question about Pakistan Airways, Secretary Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab said the company has been registered with SECP under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 and its head office would be set up in Karachi. “There will be no layoffs in PIA and government is only planning to create competitive environment,” he said.

Responding to another question, Aftab said 27 airports were functional in the country at present while 15 were non-functional due to a low number of passengers.

Separately, in a written reply to the house, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said the government had spent Rs1.271 billion on advertisements, of which about Rs215 million were for print and Rs1.055 billion were for electronic media. The advertisements are from May 2013 to January 2016.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.