SECP registers 773 new firms in June

KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 773 new companies, showing a growth of 28 percent in June compared to the corresponding month of the last financial year.

This brings the total number of registered companies to 87,622, a statement said on Thursday. The massive increase is the result of the SECP’s various reform measures, including introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, and reduction in fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings at CROs.

Around 77 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 21 percent were registered as single-member companies.

Two percent were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

The services sector took the lead with the incorporation of 113 companies, followed by trading with 104 companies.

In other sectors, IT registered 94 companies, construction 82, tourism 37, food and beverages 28, real estate development 27, engineering 22, broadcasting and telecasting, education, and

marketing and advertisement 19 each, corporate agricultural farming 17, transport, auto and allied and textile 16 each, pharmaceutical 15, communication 12, health care and logging 11

each, while 95 companies were registered in other sectors. Moreover, two

foreign companies were also registered by the Karachi CRO.

Foreign investment has been reported in 39 new companies.

These companies have foreign investors from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, the UK and the US.

The highest numbers of companies, 261 were registered in Lahore, followed by 255 and 153 registered in Islamabad and Karachi, respectively.

The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta, and Sukkur registered, 30, 27, 17, 12, 10, and 8 companies, respectively.