Askari at helm of KSE

KARACHI: The government-nominated board directors of Karachi Stocks Exchange (KSE) are inclining towards resignation, after the clash with member directors over the appointment of a chairman and managing director from outside the organisation, escalated.
The member directors of KSE board, in a meeting Monday, allowed General Manger Operation Haroon Askari to take the helm of KSE as acting managing director after the departure of Adnan Afridi. Unconfirmed reports on Monday hinted that Afridi will join the Silk Bank in a capacity which has not been ascertained.
It is worth mentioning here that the Karachi bourse is administered by an 11-member Board of Directors of which six directors happen to be the KSE card holders while the remaining five, including the managing director and the chairman, are nominated by the SECP.
The government-nominated directors, also referred to as non-member directors, include former Managing Director Adnan Afridi (now Haroon Askari), Chairman Zubyr Soomro, Farrukh Ansari, Muhammad Farhan Malik and Farrukh Viqaruddin Junaidi.
According to sources, a sharp skirmish between the members and non-members directors erupted at the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the KSE which was held here on 28th of the last month.
“The non-member directors like Farrukh Junaidi narrowly avoided a scuffle with some of the member directors and a hot-worded clash marred proceedings at the meeting,” sources told Pakistan Today. Therefore, the sources said, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan on Monday convened a meeting of the government-nominated directors in Islamabad to discuss an amicable solution to the lingering dispute.
“The directors (non-member) have made up their minds to tender resignations in the SECP meeting after the AGM incident,” they claimed. When contacted a spokesman of SECP confirmed to this scribe that the SECP chairman had held a “marathon” meeting with the non-member directors of KSE. He, however, remained tightlipped about details of the meeting.
According to sources, the last AGM had aggravated the controversy and some 200 card holders of at KSE are now clamoring for a member chairman and managing director. “The members are now demanding a non-member director,” said a source at KSE.
He said a majority of some 200 KSE members were of the view that the government nominated Board of Directors had failed to run the bourse effectively. The source added that the row had escalated to a serious stage and therefore was taken up by the SECP. “The members in the last AGM had resolved to bar entry to the non-member Board of Directors in the KSE,” the source told Pakistan Today.
Meanwhile, as expected, an urgent board meeting of KSE on Monday gave the green signal to KSE’s General Manager Operation Haroon Askari to serve as the acting managing director of the bourse. Interestingly, whereas the KSE members are resisting the appointment of a non-member managing by the SECP, their Board cleared a contractual general manager, Askari, for the top slot on Monday.
The source claimed that the interim MD, who formally took his new office on Monday, fell short of the SECP’s criteria that require a candidate to hold at least a MBA degree. Many have pinned hope on the Extraordinary General Meeting of the members, which is scheduled within next few days, to seek an amicable and sustainable solution to the controversy.