ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Tuesday allowed public to get an access to stocks data from National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) and the Central Depository Company (CDC).
“In adherence to internationally recognized standards of regulation and oversight, the SECP has approved disclosure framework to provide participants and public with sufficient information for better understanding of financial market infrastructures (FMIs), regulatory, supervisory, and oversight policies of SECP with respect to FMIs and complete regulatory and operational landscape,” the SECP said in a statement.
The CDC is a member of Asia-Pacific Central Securities Depository Group, which is an international organisation facilitating the exchange of information, promoting mutual assistance among member securities depositories and clearing organizations in the Asia Pacific region. NCCPL is playing a significant role in ensuring growth and prosperity to the Capital Market of Pakistan. Pakistan’s capital market has a triangular foundation comprising of the stock exchange, CDC and NCCPL.
The SECP said the disclosure framework has been prepared in accordance with the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure (PFMIs) that pertain to standards of governance, risk management and protection of interests of participants. The PFMIs have been jointly developed by International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) and Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and recognized by the IMF and the World Bank.
“The National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited and the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited are important FMIs facilitating clearing, settling, recording of securities, derivatives and other financial transactions,” it said. “Both the institutions are regulated by SECP and play a critical role in fostering financial stability.”
Earlier, with the assistance of World Bank, self-assessment of SECP being regulatory authority, and NCCPL and CDC being FMIs, were conducted and found broad compliance with PFMIs. Based on these self-assessments, disclosure documents have been developed for NCCPL and CDC. Moreover, a separate document has been prepared by SECP to disclose its regulatory, supervisory, and oversight policies with respect to FMIs. These disclosure documents will be made available to general public through respective websites and will be regularly updated, as and when deemed appropriate.
The SECP said compliance with the global standards in FMIs is expected to enhance confidence of participants, particularly international investors and institutions in the financial system of Pakistan.