Emlaak to improve investor outreach: SECP

KARACHI: The launch of Emlaak Financial, country’s first mutual fund market place, was a major step towards expanding investor outreach and improving customer experience, said the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Aamir Khan.

He said that while addressing to the inauguration ceremony of Emlaak Financials held at the Central Depository Company (CDC) house.

Emlaak Financials is Pakistan’s first investment platform allowing digital account opening and online investments in different mutual funds with centralised tracking.

The digital platform aims to facilitate investors in making informed decisions by providing a convenient, consolidated and interactive dashboard of investments empowering them to invest with convenience without having to physically visit asset management companies (AMCs).

“SECP has been implementing a series of reforms focusing at improving the weak linkage between the capital markets and the real economy of the country, reducing excessive regulatory layers and high costs of compliance, improving the access to private capital for large projects, and a less than perfect role in expanding financial inclusion,” the regulator said.

It was evident that along with regulatory reform, Khan added, embracing digitalisation was a critical enabler for moving forward. Accordingly, SECP initiated an internal digitalisation transformation program, leading efficiency through automated prowess (LEAP), and encouraging its regulated sectors to accelerate use of technology within their operational and business areas.

“Through careful planning, meticulous execution, and overwhelming support of our regulated sectors and market infrastructure institutions like CDC, we have been able to achieve phenomenal successes.”

The SECP has introduced digital incorporation certificates, digital certified true copies and an exclusive portal for banks to get information on their corporate clients directly from the SECP.

The regulator witnessed a significant jump in new incorporations, he said, and added that out of the total registered companies in Pakistan, 40 percent had been incorporated in the past 3 years.

“Additionally, as a consequence, we printed 348,500 less papers in FY-2022 as compared to 2020, saving 43 trees.”

Khan told the participants that the SECP had also introduced digital account opening and onboarding of investors in stock market and mutual funds, e-IPO (electronic initial public offering) process for both equity and debt issues and linkage with Roshan Digital Account were enabled.