SECP registers 1,060 new firms in Nov

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,060 new companies in November as compared to the corresponding month of the last financial year, registering a growth of 20 percent, a statement said on Friday.

After addition of the new companies, the number of registered firms stood at 93,157, it added.

The massive increase is the result of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s various reforms measures, ie, introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, reduction in fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings of CROs, etc.

Around 72 percent were registered as private limited companies, while around 26 percent were registered as single member companies.

Two percent were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations and limited liability partnership (LLP), it said.

The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 165 companies;

followed by services with 153, construction with 120, information technology with 117, tourism with 69, real estate development with 37, food and beverages with 35, corporate agricultural farming, education, and marketing and advertisement with 32 each, engineering with 30, transport with 23, fuel and energy with 19, healthcare with 16, textile with 15, auto and allied, communication, logging, mining and quarrying, and pharmaceutical with 14 each, and 95 companies were registered in other sectors, the statement said.

Foreign investment has been reported in 36 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Greece, South Korea, Kuwait, Madagascar, Malaysia, Oman, Spain, Turkey, and Britain.

The highest number of companies, ie, 408 were registered in Islamabad; followed by 261 and 201 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi, respectively.

The companies registration offices (CROs) in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta, and Sukkur registered 62, 58, 30, 23, 13 and four companies, respectively.