Husain Lawai takes chair of PSX board of directors

KARACHI: Seasoned banker Husain Lawai has been unanimously elected as chairman of the Board of Directors of Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited (PSX), a statement said on Wednesday.

Lawai was elected in the board’s maiden meeting held on May 15, 2018.

He, along with other six persons, was recently appointed as independent director on the board of the PSX for a term of three years, with the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in terms of Securities Exchanges (Licensing and Operations) Regulations, 2016.

An MBA from the Institute of Business Administration, Lawai has a vast experience in the banking and financial services industry. Currently, he is the chief executive of Institute of Bankers Pakistan and the vice chairman of Summit Bank Limited.

In addition, Lawai is on the boards of Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance, GlaxoSmithkline Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pakistan Limited, and Searle Company Limited.

Lawai had also chaired the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited and served on the boards of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, and Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Limited.

He was the first president and CEO of the MCB Bank Limited for six years after its privatisation in 1991. Subsequently, he served as the president and CEO of Summit Bank Limited from 2008 till his retirement in 2016. He is credited with being a key enabler of the local Islamic banking system through the formation of Faysal Islamic Bank (now known as Faysal Bank Limited), the first Islamic Shariah compliant Bank of Pakistan. He also had a stint as regional general manager of Emirates NBD Bank for Pakistan and Far East. Lawai had also worked as director of Security Investment and Finance Limited UK and advisor to several British and European banks. Being a staunch promoter of education, he is also a member of Board of Governors of Karachi Grammar School and had served on the Board of Governors of Virtual University of Pakistan. He assumed the office of Regional Vice President of World Memon Organization for Pakistan for three years beginning from October 2017.