Senate panel clears Companies Amendment Bill

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Friday approved the Companies Amendment Bill, 2021 under which a bank official could be fined for refusing to open a bank account or issuing credit card to a politician or any other citizen.

The committee met here with its chairman Talha Mahmood in the chair. The committee recommended the implementation of the property valuation from the budget of the next financial year. It directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to evaluate property in the budget every year.

The Companies Amendment Bill was passed by the committee despite opposition from the Finance Ministry, the Law Ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The committee said that a bank official could face punishment for discriminating against a public representative or any other citizen.

The chair noted that if the bill was passed, action would be taken if a bank official refused to open a bank account or issue a credit card to a politician or an ordinary citizen. The bill envisaged one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs1 million.

The committee recommended implementation of the property valuation from next year's budget. In addition, the meeting directed the FBR to evaluate the property in the budget every year. The meeting also reviewed the issue of capital gains tax on the additional income of the real estate sector.

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The members expressed displeasure over the absence of the FBR chairman and the SBP governor. The committee directed for issuing notices to them. However, the government members demanded that the FBR chairman and the SBP governor be given a chance.

FBR officials told the committee that the chairman was at the Prime Minister's Office. Senator Faisal Rehman said that if the prime minister had called the FBR chairman, there should be no problem with that. However, Sherry Rehman pointed out that the committee meeting was scheduled earlier.

While discussing the trade with Afghanistan, the SBP officials informed the committee that the central bank had not imposed any ban on exports, adding that there were banking-related problem in the neighbouring country.

The meeting also reviewed the issue of recovery of $250 million from the UK under the Economic Crimes Act and sough reply from the SBP within three days. The committee said that if the reply was not received within three days, the matter would be taken up in the next meeting.