KEY POINTS
- MoU signed with three digital banks to enable same-day corporate account opening for newly incorporated firms
- Draft amendments propose removing CIB report bar on rights issues subject to enhanced disclosures
- SECP and QESCO held awareness session in Quetta to promote business formalisation and digital incorporation through eZfile
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s corporate regulator has rolled out a cluster of initiatives to simplify business entry, expand access to finance for startups, and strengthen investor confidence.
The measures include a digital banking MoU enabling immediate account access for new companies, a public consultation on easing Credit Information Bureau (CIB)–related restrictions for listed companies seeking rights issues, and an outreach session in Quetta to encourage the formalisation of large power consumers.
The CIB, operated by the State Bank of Pakistan, compiles detailed credit histories of companies, including loans, defaults, and repayment records.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mobilink Microfinance Bank, Easypaisa Bank, and Raqami Islamic Digital Bank to enable same-day corporate account openings for newly registered companies.
The partnership advances the “Paper to Platform” vision by linking the SECP’s eZfile system with partner banks through secure API integration, allowing firms to commence operations immediately after incorporation.
This step builds on a recently introduced standardised board resolution format for opening corporate accounts, aimed at ensuring uniformity and transparency in banking onboarding for startups.
At the signing, SECP Chairperson Akif Saeed said the collaboration underscores the regulator’s commitment to digitisation, ease of doing business, and financial inclusion, and noted plans to explore roles for digital banks as distributors of SECP-regulated financial products.
In a parallel move, the SECP has opened public consultation on draft amendments to the Companies (Further Issue of Shares) Regulations, 2020.
The draft reviews the current requirement that bars listed companies with adverse CIB reports from proceeding with rights issues.
Stakeholders argued that this rule restricts distressed firms from raising funds for revival even when existing shareholders are willing to support them.
Under the proposed changes, listed companies would be permitted to proceed with rights offers despite past or current overdues or defaults, provided they include expanded disclosures in the offer document.
Required disclosures would cover any existing or past defaults and details of any recovery proceedings over the previous three years. The SECP has invited written feedback on the draft by November 19, 2025, at [[email protected]] (mailto:[email protected]).
Separately, the SECP partnered with Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) to hold an awareness session for major industrial and commercial electricity consumers at the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
SECP officials outlined the benefits of business formalisation, steps for company incorporation via the eZfile portal, required documentation, and recent measures to simplify compliance and registration. The session generated active discussion and clarified procedural queries from participants.
Collectively, these actions are intended to modernise Pakistan’s corporate framework, reduce administrative barriers to business formation, and encourage greater transparency and investor confidence across the corporate sector.
