Monday, 30 November 2015

Pakistan: new company law framework - draft of Companies Bill 2015 published

Update (7 April 2016) - a second draft of the Companies Bill has been published for public comment: see here.

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In March 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) announced the start of a review of the company law framework in Pakistan: see here. Progress stuttered but was restarted earlier this year and has now culminated in the publication of a draft Companies Bill 2015, the purpose of which is to amend and consolidate Pakistan's core company law framework: see here (pdf). Comments on the draft Bill, which will replace the Companies Ordinance 1984, should be sent to the SECP (claw.bill@secp.gov.pk).

Clause 209 sets out the duties of directors; subsection 2 provides: "A director of a company shall act in good faith in order to promote the objects of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in the best interests of the company, its employees, the shareholders, the community and for the protection of environment".

A copy of the draft Bill was presented by the SECP's chairman, Zafar Hijazi, to the Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on Saturday:

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