Incorporations: Corporate growth momentum remains on track
Company registration with SECP rose 30% in December 2016
PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 703 companies in December 2016, up 30% compared to November 2016, in a sign of continuing corporate growth momentum.
Overall, in the last six months of 2016, the number of companies incorporated grew 23% compared with the same period of previous year, primarily due to wide-ranging reform measures, the apex regulator SECP said in a statement on Thursday.
The SECP pointed out that it had adopted a multi-pronged strategy to further encourage corporatisation in the country.
The strategy included the restructuring of Company Registration Offices (CROs), legislative reforms, increasing adoption of information and communication technologies, simplification of administrative procedures and investor awareness and facilitation.
In order to promote incorporations, facilitation desks have been established at the CROs in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, which ensures that a company is registered the same day if application comes in the first half of the day.
“These measures are aimed at reducing the business start-up time and costs as well as the regulatory procedures so as to encourage investors adopt the corporate form of business organisation. The measures will also assist the government in documentation of the economy,” the SECP said.
Of the 703 companies incorporated in December, around 85% were registered as private limited companies and around 13% as single-member companies. The remaining 2% were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations and foreign companies.
The services sector took the lead with incorporation of 140 companies, followed by trading (95), construction (69), information technology (56), tourism (33), engineering (24), food and beverages (21), auto and allied (19), fuel and energy (18), corporate agricultural farming, education and real estate development (17 each), transport (16), communications, health care and power generation (14 each), textile and pharmaceutical (10 each) and other sectors (99).
Moreover, six foreign companies were registered by the CROs in Islamabad and Karachi.
Foreign investment has been reported in 50 new companies. These have foreign investors from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK and the US.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2017.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 703 companies in December 2016, up 30% compared to November 2016, in a sign of continuing corporate growth momentum.
Overall, in the last six months of 2016, the number of companies incorporated grew 23% compared with the same period of previous year, primarily due to wide-ranging reform measures, the apex regulator SECP said in a statement on Thursday.
The SECP pointed out that it had adopted a multi-pronged strategy to further encourage corporatisation in the country.
The strategy included the restructuring of Company Registration Offices (CROs), legislative reforms, increasing adoption of information and communication technologies, simplification of administrative procedures and investor awareness and facilitation.
In order to promote incorporations, facilitation desks have been established at the CROs in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, which ensures that a company is registered the same day if application comes in the first half of the day.
“These measures are aimed at reducing the business start-up time and costs as well as the regulatory procedures so as to encourage investors adopt the corporate form of business organisation. The measures will also assist the government in documentation of the economy,” the SECP said.
Of the 703 companies incorporated in December, around 85% were registered as private limited companies and around 13% as single-member companies. The remaining 2% were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations and foreign companies.
The services sector took the lead with incorporation of 140 companies, followed by trading (95), construction (69), information technology (56), tourism (33), engineering (24), food and beverages (21), auto and allied (19), fuel and energy (18), corporate agricultural farming, education and real estate development (17 each), transport (16), communications, health care and power generation (14 each), textile and pharmaceutical (10 each) and other sectors (99).
Moreover, six foreign companies were registered by the CROs in Islamabad and Karachi.
Foreign investment has been reported in 50 new companies. These have foreign investors from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK and the US.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2017.