SECP finalises regulatory regime for valuers

ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has concluded its efforts to introduce regulatory regime for registration and governance of professional valuers, an announcement said on Tuesday.

The professional valuers are individuals or organisations that appraise the value of assets and collaterals provided to banks and financial institutions for the purpose of securing loans and advances and any other facilities.

“The SECP came to this decision after conducting consultative sessions with various stakeholders, including State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Banks Association (PBA), which represented the entire banking industry, i.e., the largest client of professional valuers,” the corporate regulator said in a notification.

The SECP said the regime was finalised after taking professional valuers' on board. In this regard two the regulator held two meetings with the valuers to record their reservations/comments and for further queries the draft registration regulations were also placed on the SECP’s website for their perusal.

The corporate watchdog also observed that the SBP, being the regulator of banking industry, was already supervising the valuation services through PBA wherein the professional valuers have to get registered with the association.

On the other hand, professional valuers have raised serious concerns, arguing that the subject regulation would complicate the registration regime. They also feared that the regulation would increase the cost of doing business due to simultaneous registration of professional valuers by the SECP and the PBA. The SECP further said the services being provided by valuers were similar to those provided by other professional experts, i.e., auditors, actuaries, engineers, who were regulated through respective professional institutes.