Corporate donations by listed firms nearing global level: SECP

KARACHI: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Akif Saeed on Tuesday said contribution of listed companies to corporate donations was approaching the globally accepted level of 1 percent of profit after taxes.

He was speaking at the launch and award ceremony of Corporate Philanthropy Survey Reports, by Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP).

“In Pakistan, the understanding and practices around concepts of philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ESG practices are evolving and generally intertwined,” Saeed said.

Speaking on the role of SECP, he stated that the preliminary landscape to inculcate awareness about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Pakistan was developed by the commission through consensus-based CSR Guidelines in 2013.

The guidelines had facilitated in not only raising awareness among the corporate sector, but also encouraged collaboration through public-private partnership, he added.

The guidelines also paved the way for more formal legislative intervention through Companies Act, 2017, by moving towards Environmental, Social, and Governance or ESG agenda, by introducing more inclusive boards better disclosure and transparency regime for listed companies to communicate to shareholders, the impact of company’s business on the environment, CSR activities undertaken during the year and a description of principle risks and uncertainties faced by the company, according to SECP chief.

Saeed further said the corporate sector could enhance its contribution to the social and economic development of Pakistan through long-term strategies focusing on outcomes, with better employee engagement and better synergies.

The four factors were also mirrored in SECP’s objectives, he said, adding, “as we move away from our traditional role of a regulator, to strategically redefining the role of SECP to align with economic and social development needs of the country”.

He apprised that while annual donations to charities in Pakistan could be estimated to be nearly $1.5 billion, its utility and effective use could not be gauged efficiently as most of the amount was not documented properly, Saeed informed.

Effective implementation of donation programs is a challenge because of lack of transparency and accountability, as well as due to lack of coordination between different charitable organisations to ensure efficient utilisation of resources, according to SECP chief.

"However, corporate donations play a vital role in social uplift and it is heartening to note that the corporate sector has been doing its part in Pakistan,” he said, appreciating the role of PCP towards improving transparency of the non-profit sector, by documenting the corporate sector’s contribution through philanthropy

surveys on annual basis.