“There is growing interest in the concept of corporate governance in Pakistan mainly because corporate governance is a key to developing a market economy and civil society in transitioning economies such as Pakistan. Globalisation, the need to attract foreign investment to ensure sustainable development of Pakistan, maintaining the performance of the Stock Exchanges, greater transparency in financial reporting and ‘shareholders’ rights protection – to name a few, are among the reasons for renewed interest in enhanced standards of corporate governance. The survey commissioned by the International Finance Corporation, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and conducted by ACCA Pakistan is a useful and comprehensive that will hopefully provide a baseline for future corporate governance reforms and initiatives” said Mr. Husnain Bahadur Dreshak, Provincial Minister of Finance, Chief Guest at the roundtable on Survey of Corporate Governance Practices in Pakistan.
The roundtable was held on 24 July at the Royal Palm Country Golf Club, Lahore to discuss the key findings of the draft report of the Survey of Corporate Governance Practices in Pakistan. The Survey of Corporate Governance Practices aims to provide a snapshot of the corporate governance practices of local listed companies relating to board practices, minority shareholders rights protection, information disclosure and transparency, control framework and risk management as well as outline recommendations for future corporate governance reforms. The recommendations relate to review of code of corporate governance, ensuring sustainability of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance, developing corporate governance resources, comply or explain approach to inclusion of independent non-executive directors on the board of directors, monitoring of minority shareholders rights protection, monitoring of disclosure of related party transactions and conflict of interest, development of local guidance for IFRS, awareness seminars for making the business community aware of the business case for corporate governance and strengthening the role of regulator, stock exchanges and courts for effective monitoring of implementation of corporate governance practices in the country.
The roundtable was addressed by Mr. Zahid Zaheer, Chairman Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance, Mr. Kaiser H. Naseem, Manager, Pakistan Corporate Governance Project, International Finance Corporation and Mr. Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan. Dr. Afra Sajjad, Head of Policy Development of ACCA Pakistan outlined the key findings and recommendations of the survey. The Chief Guest was Mr. Husnain Bahadur Dreshak, Provincial Minister of Finance. The event was attended by representatives of Central Board of Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, academics and business community who provided valuable feedback on the recommendations of the survey that will help in the finalisation of the report.
Media coverage from Print Media
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For further information please contact:
Dr. Afra Sajjad
Head of Policy Development
