In a major development, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday announced imposing penalty of Rs5 million on a former employee of a brokerage house and two of his relatives for insider trading. A statement issued by SECP said the measure was taken as part of its stringent surveillance practices to cut abusive market practices. However, it did not make public the names of the culprits and other details relating to investigations.
It said the SECP issued three orders to a former employee of a brokerage house and two of their relatives in instances of front running/insider trading and a cumulative penalty of Rs5.05 million was imposed. Moreover, three orders were issued against directors/beneficial owners of listed companies for late filing of returns. A show-cause notice was issued to an individual for violation of Section 18A of the 1969 Securities and Exchange Ordinance due to submission of multiple applications. In another instance, an offerer of a listed company was also served show-cause notice for not complying with the SECP orders.
The prevailing regulatory framework is continuously being improved for development of a conducive market. In this regard, nine amendments were approved to the existing regulations of the stock exchanges. The SECP also granted approval to a fund manager under its Employees Stock Option Scheme to incorporate certain amendments to its scheme. During the month, 12 complaints pertaining to brokers of stock exchanges were resolved.
