Mehdi appointed as new PSX chief

KARACHI: Sulaiman Mehdi, the chief executive of Cyan Limited, has been appointed as the new chairman of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), a statement said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan asked PSX to remove Hussain Lawai from its board chairmanship after his arrest in a money-laundering case on July 6. The Federal Investigation Agency registered a case against Lawai in a money-laundering case involving Rs35 billion. Mehdi has 17 years of experience working with leading financial services groups in senior positions in the areas of investments, operations, marketing, legal and corporate affairs. He holds a master’s degree. He is a certified director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. Mehdi joined Cyan Limited (formerly Central Insurance Company Limited - CICL) as the chief operating officer and company secretary in 2010 and led the insurance licence revocation of CICL. The revocation of insurance licence and its business restructuring from CICL to Cyan is a landmark transaction, and the first of its kind in Pakistan.

He led the Rs6 billion worth of acquisition of Hubco from National Power in 2012. He also had the privilege of leading the election process of Hubco for Dawood Hercules Group twice in 2012 and 2015. Mehdi has served on the board of Dawood Lawrencepur Limited from 2011 to 2014 and was a director for Focus Pakistan from 2008 to 2011 (an Aga Khan Foundation-backed non-government organisation). He has been a director of lnbox Business Technologies, lnbox Consulting and lnbox Corporation.

Mehdi also served as the chief operating officer and company secretary of Allied Bank Asset Management Company Limited. He was also associated with Allied Bank Limited - Corporate and Investment Banking Group as senior vice president. Mehdi also served as the chief operating officer and company secretary of PICIC Asset Management Company Ltd.