ISLAMBAD, November 22: Listed Companies (Code of Corporate Governance) Regulations, 2017, have been approved for notification by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). They replace the Code of Corporate Governance, 2012 (CCG 2012) issued under the PSX listing regulation and are seen as a stride towards aligning corporate governance practices in Pakistan with best international standards. They shall come into effect for period beginning on January 1, 2018. The regulations are aimed at strengthening governance structures, bringing consistency in the corporate practices and promoting transparency through enhanced disclosure requirements. Furthermore, the role and responsibilities of directors have been made more clea...
November 22, 2017 at 4:20 pm | News Desk
ISLAMBAD, November 21: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has ordered an investigation into the leakage of trading information of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). While taking a serious notice of various complaints received, the SECP constituted a team with a mandate to immediately start the investigation proceeding to identify and curb the sources of such unlawful practices and take necessary corrective and punitive actions. In order to achieve this objective, the Commission will engage the services of professionals/experts as deemed necessary and ensure fair and early disposal of this investigation. The SECP believes that sanctity of trading information holds paramount importance for growing confidence of invest...
November 22, 2017 at 12:10 pm | News Desk
Islamabad: November 16, 2017: To mark International Education Week, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) handed over two mobile libraries to the Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) at a ceremony in a local school today. After the transfer agreement was signed, USAID’s Office Director for Education Dr. Christopher Steel formally presented the bus keys to Minister of State for CA&DD Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry. “With these mobile libraries, we can make sure that good books are reaching children who want to read and helping them become good readers,” said Dr. Steel. “I am happy that through today’s commitment, we are continuing this tradition of supporting Pakistan in its effo...
November 16, 2017 at 4:03 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD (November 16, 2017) The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Interior Ministry to strike PPP leader Dr Asim Hussain's name off the Exit Control List (ECL), allowing him to travel abroad for medical treatment. Justice Masheer Alam and Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case regarding the removal of Dr Asim's name from the no-fly list. The PPP leader had travelled abroad for medical treatment earlier this year, but had returned within the time period stipulated by the court, his lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa had said during the last hearing of the case. However, as he appeared healthy, his name was put on the ECL again upon his return to Pakistan. Dr Asim's lawyer earlier told the court that his client's flight had initially b...
November 16, 2017 at 12:12 pm | News Desk
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday, continuing Tuesday’s slide after the International Energy Agency cast doubts over the past few months’ narrative of tightening fuel markets. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $61.33 per barrel at 0515 GMT, down 88 cents, or 1.4 percent from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $55 per barrel, down 70 cents, or 1.3 percent. The price falls mean that crude prices are now down by around 5 percent since hitting 2015 highs last week, ending a 40-percent rally between June and early November. “Crude prices dropped dramatically after the IEA forecast a gloomy outlook for the near future ... The drop was arguably exacerbated b...
November 15, 2017 at 12:20 pm | News Desk
Zimbabwe's military has read out a statement after taking over the national broadcaster, ZBC, saying it has taken action to "target criminals". However, it said this was not "a military takeover of government" and President Robert Mugabe was safe. Heavy gunfire and artillery were heard in northern suburbs of the capital, Harare, early on Wednesday. Zimbabwe's envoy to South Africa, Isaac Moyo, earlier dismissed talk of a coup, saying the government was "intact". The statement read out by Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo came hours after soldiers overran the headquarters of ZBC. He said: "We wish to assure the nation that his excellency the president... and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed." The statement ad...
November 15, 2017 at 11:40 am | News Desk
The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, on Tuesday alleged that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had established a cell in 2015 dedicated to sabotaging China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Pakistan. While addressing a seminar in Islamabad, Gen Hayat revealed that: "RAW established a new cell with a special allocation of over $500 million in 2015 to sabotage CPEC projects [in Pakistan]." "India's indirect interference in Pakistan is manifested in sponsoring Tehreek-i-Taliban-Pakistan, Baloch and other sub-nationalist outfits and many other terrorist groups," he added. "India has set up a Balochistan operational cell under RAW to devise a radical force for subversion and terror...
November 14, 2017 at 5:07 pm | News Desk
An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in response to his prolonged absence from court. The court had been in session for the proceedings of a corruption reference against Dar, who is accused of amassing assets of an approximate value of Rs831.7 million; disproportionate to his known sources of income. The court also dismissed once again Dar's petition for exemption from accountability hearings. The hearing had been delayed as NAB’s investigating officer was unable to reach the accountability court on time. The NAB prosecutor had told the court that the officer was travelling from Lahore to Islamabad for the hearing and had gotten delayed due to smog....
November 14, 2017 at 4:55 pm | News Desk
BRUSSELS: The commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, US Army Gen. John Nicholson, said Thursday that Pakistan had not changed its behaviour since President Donald Trump announced his new policy for Afghanistan. When asked whether he had seen any increased cooperation from Pakistan with regards to eliminating Taliban sanctuaries, Nicholson said "No, I haven't seen any change yet in their behavior." He was speaking to the reporters on the margins of a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels this week. "You've heard the public statements from President Trump, from (Defense Secretary James) Mattis, from (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford) from (Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson, so we are engaging at the ve...
November 10, 2017 at 2:27 pm | News Desk
In a move aimed at further driving the cashless ecosystem in Pakistan, Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has collaborated with Bank Alfalah Limited, the country’s premier banking institution, to enable its Masterpass QR service on the bank’s dedicated mobile banking app ‘Alfa’. As Pakistan’s first interoperable digital payment service, Masterpass QR is a quick response (QR) mobile solution that allows consumers to make simple and secure digital payments across devices and channels. The cost-effective solution, which first went live in Pakistan in August 2016, makes it easy for users to pay for purchases made in-store and for a wide variety of goods and services. With the integration of...
November 10, 2017 at 11:24 am | News Desk
ABU DHABI/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on corruption has spread beyond its borders as regulators in the United Arab Emirates ask UAE banks for information about Saudi citizens detained in the investigation, a possible prelude to freezing their accounts. The UAE central bank has requested commercial banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis, commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Almost all of the 19, including billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and former National Guard chief Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, are known to be among dozens of senior officials and businessmen detained in the corruption inquiry. ...
November 9, 2017 at 4:49 pm | News Desk
TOKYO/MIYAZAKI: The IMF urged Japan to maintain its massive monetary stimulus to boost consumer prices, a view echoed by a central bank board member, reinforcing expectations policy will remain accommodative. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda was doing the right thing by committing to keep the money spigot wide open until inflation hit his 2 percent target. “One of the strengths of central bankers is to be very clear in their communication and determined in their resolve, which clearly Governor Kuroda has demonstrated,” Lagarde told Reuters on Wednesday. The BOJ has faced mounting criticism that its huge asset purchases are distorting markets and pushing ...
November 9, 2017 at 4:18 pm | News Desk
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will meet Friday in Vietnam, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian news agencies on Thursday. The meeting “will be on November 10,” but the exact time is being decided, Ushakov told the official TASS agency. Both leaders will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang. The pair last met at the G20 summit in Germany in July. On Sunday Trump said he thinks “it’s expected we’ll meet with Putin” to discuss North Korea. Relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted as a US probe has accused Trump’s former campaign aides of secretly meeting Kremlin-connected officials. Russia has vehement...
November 9, 2017 at 4:12 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD, November 9: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved amendments to the third, fourth and fifth schedules of the Companies Act, 2017. Pursuant to promulgation of the 2017 Act on May 30, 2017, disclosure requirements of fourth and fifth schedules became applicable to various classes of companies for preparation of financial statements, in addition to the applicable financial reporting frameworks prescribed for each class under the third schedule. Stakeholders have since been highlighting concerns over practical difficulties in complying with some of the additional disclosure requirements of the respective schedules. One such requirement was to disclose information of related parties, irrespective of...
November 9, 2017 at 3:29 pm | News Desk
WASHINGTON: World Bank lending to countries like China that are rich enough to finance their own development hurts poor countries that need help, a senior US Treasury official said Wednesday. David Malpass, Treasury’s Undersecretary for International Affairs, cited China as a prime example of the practice, as the World Bank’s biggest borrower with $2.4 billion in loans this year. The Trump administration will push the World Bank to move countries towards graduation, as their economies grow and they are able to access private sources of financing, he told a House subcommittee. “Many graduation-eligible countries, even those with strong market access, have continued to demand (World Bank) financing,” he said in prepared testi...
November 9, 2017 at 3:23 pm | News Desk
KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accepted on Monday the resignation of the defence minister and army chief of staff after more than 140 government soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack on an army base last week, the president´s office said. "Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim stepped down with immediate effect," the presidential palace announced in a post on its Twitter account. Shah Hussain Murtazawi, acting spokesman for Ghani, told Reuters the resignations were because of Friday´s attack in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. At least 140 soldiers were killed and many wounded, an official in the city said on Saturday. Other officials said the toll was likely to be even higher.
April 24, 2017 at 1:01 pm | News Desk
Brexit negotiations have yet to begin but already the prospect of the UK splitting from the rest of the European Union has roiled the world of business, sending shockwaves through a slew of sectors. Thousands of jobs look set to move and while it’s impossible to attach a price tag to Brexit, industry bodies, consultants, economists and accountants have already published dozens of reports on the possible impact of new tariffs and a restriction on the movement of people. Here’s an overview of what we know. The broader economy The most dramatic and salient economic impact of the Brexit decision came on the night of the decision itself. The pound suffered its biggest one-day fall against the dollar on record as currency trade...
April 22, 2017 at 4:19 pm | News Desk
Pak-Suzuki, Pakistan’ largest auto manufacturer, has introduced the new Suzuki Cultus on April 22, 2017. The car in question is aimed to bring more diversity in the locally manufactured 1000 cc car category. With its launch, Pak-Suzuki will be looking forward to curb the influence of imported cars in Pakistan. Market analysts predict that this new car from Pak-Suzuki will sit comfortably between WagonR and Swift and that Pak-Suzuki will have a complete range of products in the price range of product tiers including Mehran, WagonR, Cultus, Swift, Ciaz and a premium product – Suzuki Vitara. It is important to highlight that Pak-Suzuki embarked on the journey to revise its product lineup back in 2016 by launching Suzuki Kizashi. Althoug...
April 22, 2017 at 4:05 pm | News Desk
BEIJING: Habib Bank, one of the largest private banks in Pakistan which opened its branch in Urumqi, is eyeing opportunities connected with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key component of the Belt and Road Initiative. Xinjiang is the starting point of the CPEC, which links the region with the Gwadar port in Pakistan. The CPEC is estimated to draw infrastructure investment of $45 billion. “We have always been very active on the frontlines of the CPEC,” a top bank official said on Tuesday. Bank of Beijing has also established its branch last week in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. According to experts, domestic and foreign financial institutions have been pouring into Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Aut...
April 22, 2017 at 3:53 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has issued No Objection Certificate (NoC) to former army chief General Raheel Sharif to join Saudi military alliance, Defence Minister Kh Asif said on Friday. The former military chief has requested the government for NoC, Kh Asif said adding that the permission was given after GHQ approval. After the formalities, Raheel Sharif flew to Saudi Arabia in a special plane from Lahore accompanying family members. Raheel Sharif’s Saudi assignment has been a matter of controversy in and outside Pakistan. Opposition parties have objected to Pakistan’s involvement in any military alliance fearing that it may flare up sectarian conflicts among Muslim states. Iran too had expressed reservations on the military allian...
April 21, 2017 at 3:12 pm | News Desk