Regulators’ day out: Parliamentary panel calls meeting on a random e-mail

Body had planned to discuss corruption in Competition Commission.

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel had to retreat on Tuesday when it found that the source of allegations of corruption and nepotism against the Competition Commission of Pakistan was an anonymous e-mail and instead formed a sub-committee to track the anonymous person.

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue could not substantiate the allegations of corruption in the Competition Commission of Pakistan and allegations on its chairperson to have used her name in a law firm while working for the anti-trust watchdog.

“Anonymous mails should be put in the dustbin instead of taking them seriously,” ruled the Committee’s Chairman Senator Ahmed Ali of Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Senator Haroon Khan belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid had requested bringing alleged corruption in the CCP on the committee’s agenda.

The purported allegations against the CCP surfaced at a time when it up the ante against huge cartels in various parts of the economy.

“I would request the honourable Senators to be aware of lobby groups which find way to cast aspersions and maligning institutions of this state craft,” said Kaunain. She observed that being the chairperson of CCP gave her the right to proceed against those who allege and support these frivolous assertions.

The chairperson also stated that no case has been given to her former firm, Hassan Kaunain Nafees, for any fee consideration.

The chairman constituted a three-member sub-committee of Senator Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Senator Professor Khursheed Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami and Senator Safdar Abbasi of Pakistan Peoples Party with a mandate to probe the issue and give a report within a month..

“Levelling baseless allegations is unfortunate but this is a price that one has to pay in a public office,” said Senator Ishaq Dar.

SECP grilled for failing to protect interests of depositors

While the Standing Committee was appreciative for exceptional work done by the CCP, it grilled another regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for its failure to protect the interests of depositors.

The panel criticised the SECP for not watching the interests of the depositors in the case of Rs560 million fraud committed by Natover Lease and Refinancing Company Limited (NLRL). It also unanimously decided to file a privileged motion against the SECP chairman Mohammad Ali for not attending the committee meeting.  The SECP Adviser Abul Rehman Qureshi briefed the committee that NLRL siphoned off Rs560 million of depositors through a private limited company, owned by son of NLRL Chief Executive Officer Nadeem Sheikh. He said the SECP had gone to the court for recovery of the amount.

“The SECP has failed to protect the interests of the depositors and it seemed that the company committed fraud in connivance of the SECP,” said Senator Haroon Khan. The members suggested that the job of monitoring of Non-Banking Finance Institutions should be taken from the SECP and handed over to the central bank.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2011.