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 Regulatory Exemptions – September 2017
​CFA Charterholders are now exempt by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) from obtaining the mandatory Research Analysts Certification, subject to passing of Pakistan Market Regulations certification offered by Institute of Capital Market's (ICM). CFA charterholders are already waived from the Fundamentals of Capital Market Program (FCM) certification requirement.

The Institute of Capital Markets (ICM) is a not-for-profit company set up by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and various other financial market stakeholders as a certification body for the development of human capital and professionals in the financial markets under the SECP's regulatory purview.

View the SECP circular.

 Training Session for Ferguson Employees
​Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had organized a training workshop on August 22, 2016 on Financial Planning for senior employees of A. F. Ferguson & Co., a member firm of PricewaterHouseCoopers. SECP had requested support from CFA Society Pakistan for conducting training pertaining to financial planning module. The first session was held in Islamabad on 22 August, 2016. Our member, Zulfiqar Ali, CFA, conducted the training session on financial planning on behalf of CFASP which was much appreciated by the participants and SECP. Zulfiqar is ACCA, CFA and FRM certified and is currently working as a Portfolio Investment Manager for NBP Fullerton Asset Management Company. Earlier, he worked as a Senior Operational and Market Risk Analyst in Risk Management Division of Askari Bank Limited. ​

 ICM Directorship
​Mr. Ashraf Bava, CFA President & Advocacy Chair of CFA Society Pakistan and Chief Executive of Nael Capital (Pvt) Limited has been nominated on the board of The Institute of Capital Markets (ICM) by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan. He will serve on the board of ICM for a three year period starting from April 2016. ICM has been established by SECP as a permanent platform to develop high quality human capital that is capable of meeting the emerging needs of capital markets and financial services industry including insurance companies. It is to create minimum standards of knowledge and ethical behavior for the market professionals. The scope of activities of the Institute covers the entire spectrum of activities related to the capital market and insurance companies that includes equity and commodity brokers, mutual funds, money market, commodities market, insurance/endowment products, and also investor's education and awareness.

 Faculty Development Seminars by SECP

​Mr. Ashraf Bava, CFA, President- CFA Society Pakistan was invited as speaker at the two full-day Faculty Development Program seminars conducted by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the World Bank Group. His talk covered an update of equities markets with special emphasis on its challenges and opportunities ahead.

The seminars were conducted at Marriott Hotel, Karachi and Serena Hotel, Islamabad on May 31, 2016 and June 06, 2016 respectively. Under the May 5, 2016, MOU signed between the HEC and SECP, these programs were the first in a series of such programs planned for faculty members of universities across Pakistan. The events hosted almost 200 management science academics from various universities in Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. The topics covered included debt and equity markets, REITs, leasing, investment banking, microfinance, Islamic finance etc. Mr. Bava shared his expertise on the equity markets of Pakistan.

The details of the event may be viewed at Faculty Development Program, SECP. 

 Comments and Submissions

​We submitted our comments to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Trading Halts and Circuit Breakers.

View Pakistan Stock Exchange Request for Comments on Trading Halts & Circuit Breakers

View CFA Society Pakistan Comments on Trading Halts & Circuit Breakers

 Regulatory Waiver
​The Institute of Capital Markets (ICM) is a not-for-profit company set up by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and various other financial market stakeholders as a certification body for the development of human capital and professionals in the financial markets under the SECP's regulatory purview.

After obtaining the Institute of Capital Market's (ICM) PMR certification, CFA charterholders are waived from the Fundamentals of Capital Market Program (FCM) certification requirement.

View Details of the Waiver.

 Representation on Various Bodies
​CFA Society Pakistan has positioned itself and its member body as a critical player in the development and strengthening of capital markets in Pakistan. We regularly represent our views and interests of CFAI on various forums.
  • Book Building Regulations 2015
  • Roundtable meeting on Research Analyst Regulation, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (2015)
  • Independent Expert on the Permanent Arbitration Panel, Karachi Stock Exchange (2015)
  • Represented CFA Society on the Ceremony for Signing of MoU on Integration between the three Stock Exchanges of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad (2015).
  • Representation on Bond Market Index Committee, Karachi Stock Exchange (2015)
  • Representation on Panel of Experts and Regulatory Affairs Committee on the Karachi Stock Exchange 2013

 Pakistan as GIPS Country Sponsor

Pakistan as GIPS Country Sponsor

We are pleased to let you know that CFA Institute has released the document - "Assistance to Firms Considering Compliance with the GIPS Standards" - (2016) which will assist firms considering becoming compliant with the GIPS standards. CFA Institute has given special recognition to Mr. Mir Muhammad Ali CFA, ex-Director CFA Society Pakistan, for his contributions to the initial drafts of this document. It is expected that firms that are considering compliance with the GIPS standards will find this document very helpful as they go through the 5 steps to comply with the GIPS standards: Learn, Analyze, Build, Implement, and Stay. 

In its recent meeting in Hong Kong on 20 September 2007, the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) Executive Committee voted to acknowledge CFA Society Pakistan as an official sponsor of the Global Investment Performance Standards, or GIPS® standards, for the Pakistan market. The GIPS standards are well-recognized with high compliance levels amongst key financial centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Administered by the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity, the success of the GIPS standards is the result of an alliance of sponsors with experts from a variety of fields within the global investment industry across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. These key industry groups contribute significantly to promoting and developing the GIPS standards. The CFAAP is the 28th group to join this alliance.

Based on the principles of fair representation and full disclosure, the GIPS standards provide an ethical framework for the calculation and presentation of investment performance for investment management firms. The GIPS standards benefit two main groups: 1) investment management firms and 2) their current and potential investing clients (including the investment consultants whose job is to evaluate, supervise, hire, and dismiss investment management firms on behalf of those clients).

Global standardization of investment performance reporting gives investors around the world the additional transparency they need to compare investment managers and allows managers to compete for new business in foreign markets

Progress on Implementing Codes of Conduct

Over the past several years CFA Society Pakistan has been diligently working towards improving the standard of Pakistan’s capital markets. One of the key objectives of CFA Society Pakistan has been to make an impact in the area of advocacy by promoting the global best practices prescribed by CFA Institute and CFA Centre in the areas of code and ethics, professional standards, etc. This is the area which has been the key focus of CFA Society Pakistan during the past one year.

A recent major break through in this regard was the introduction of the draft codes by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). SECP invited comments from the general public on two separate drafts of codes of conduct. The first one relates to Analysts and the second to Asset Managers and brokerage houses.

The draft Codes are primarily based on the CFA Institute Asset Manager Code of Conduct and Research Objectivity Standards, and set out minimum standards for analysts, asset managers and brokerage houses in various areas. These include duties of due care, skill and diligence, qualification, adequacy of resources and procedures, information exchange with clients and its disclosure, compliance and controls and responsibilities of management.

 

Progress on Analyst Certification Program

SECP has also announced its intention to start certification exam requirement for fund managers, analysts and brokers which will be predominantly based on CFA examination. This is a great breakthrough that CFAAP’s Advocacy team has managed to achieve, after constant lobbying with the SECP for more than two years. A phase-wise implementation approach for the Analyst Certification Program will be followed by the Commission.

To further assist SECP with the implementation guidelines, CFA Society Pakistan hosted focus groups with Analysts, Brokers and representatives from Asset Management Companies. The feed back from the focus groups, on the development of implementation guidelines, will be provided to SECP for further action.