SECP appoints PMEX directors

Regulator nominates one-third of the board, shareholders nominate the rest.

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has appointed Shazad G Dada, Muhammad Hanif Jakhura and Syed Ali Sultan as directors of the board of the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) for the next term of the board, says a press release.

The individuals possess extensive financial and capital market experience and their appointment can be seen as a fair balance of the requisite qualification and skills required on the PMEX board. The constitution of the exchange’s board had recently been revised on the advice of the SECP to provide for one-third of the board as independent directors to be nominated/appointed by the SECP. The remaining two-third of the board will be representatives of the shareholders with not more than one-third of these as trading rights holders/persons associated with the trading rights holders.

The new structure of the board requiring nomination of independent directors by the SECP will ensure that checks and balances are in place in PMEX’s governance structure, an important capital market institution involving public interest and mandated with augmented responsibilities in terms of its regulatory and commercial functions.

It is expected that the PMEX board in particular and the capital markets in general, will benefit from the mix of extensive knowledge, global experience and diverse expertise of the professionals appointed by the SECP possess.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2012.