PM appoints acting SECP chief on ministry’s approval

Move came after SC cancelled previous chairman’s appointment.

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has appointed Tahir Mahmood as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) after the Supreme Court cancelled Muhammad Ali’s appointment as chairman of the corporate and equity watchdog.

The decision was taken on a summary sent by the Ministry of Finance that asked the premier to give the charge to Mahmood until a new chairman is appointed in a transparent manner as directed by the apex court in its judgment. The ministry on Friday issued a notification in this regard.



While declaring Ali’s appointment illegal early this month, the apex court directed the federal government to make a new appointment without delay and in accordance with the SECP Act.

The court further directed that the process of appointment should be conducted in a credible, rigorous and transparent manner and that the appointee should meet all requirements.

Tahir Mahmood, currently Commissioner Company Law Division at SECP, represents the category of commissioners who are being appointed from within the SECP. The rest of the three commissioners of the SECP are from the private sector.

Earlier, Mahmood had been promoted to the post of commissioner on the intervention of a scion of a political family associated with the previous ruling party, according to sources in the finance ministry.

Mahmood is a regular employee of the SECP and joined the service through the Federal Public Service Commission as Grade 18 officer in the former Corporate Law Authority (CLA) in 1989. He is a chartered accountant and carries a rich experience of over 25 years with the CLA and SECP.



He is a fellow member of ICMAP and ICSP and also has a degree in law. Mahmood has also experience in company law administration, takeover laws, corporate restructuring, mergers and corporate finance.

The nominees for the SECP chairman slot have traditionally been backed by any of the two strongest groups in the Karachi stock market. Former SECP chairman Muhammad Ali was also said to be backed by a leading stock broker.

The petitioner, Muhammad Ashraf Tiwana, on whose petition the apex court had removed Ali, had argued that the appointment of individuals to the post of commissioner or SECP chairman who were, or have been, members of the stock and commodity exchanges, brokers, directors or shareholders of brokerage companies was against the law.

Ali’s appointment had also become a source of friction between President Asif Ali Zardari and former finance minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, sources said. The president wanted Shaikh to send Ali’s appointment summary to the PM while Shaikh was pushing the name of another person backed by the competing lobby, they added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2013.

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