The regulatory authority for the securities market and corporate sector in Pakistan is the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. The Commission was established on January 01,1999 by dissolving the Corporate Law Authority which was formed in 1981 under a Special Law. The Commission administers the compliance of the Corporate laws in the country. The Commission is run by the Commissioners under a Chairman.
The Asian Development Bank's Capital Market Development Programme envisaged the conversion of CLA into Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, as an autonomous regulatory authority. The new system provides administrative, operational and financial autonomy to the Commission and at the same time provides an accountability mechanism through establishment of a Securities and Exchange Policy Board. All policy decisions are made by the Board on the recommendations of the Commission which is also empowered to take suo motto action. The Board is directly answerable to the Parliament.
Members of the stock exchanges are also subject to the discipline of self-regulation under various Rules and Regulations of the stock exchanges. Self-Regulation is the essence of market regulation and for this purpose the legal framework has been amended to facilitate the attainment of SRO status by the stock exchanges.
