SECP Implements Stricter Compliance Requirements for Registration of Foreign Companies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP) has announced that foreign companies seeking to operate in the country will have to provide more documentation to register with the SECP.

The regulatory body has issued S.R.O. 530 (I)/2023 and S.R.O. 532 (I)/2023 on Tuesday, amending the Foreign Companies Regulations, 2018 and Companies (Incorporation) Regulations, 2017.

Under the revised regulations outlined in S.R.O. 532 (I)/2023, foreign companies must now submit certified copies of charters, statutes, memoranda, articles or other documents defining the constitution of the company.

The revised regulations added that “a copy of any charter, statute, memorandum, articles or other instrument, constituting or defining the constitution of a foreign company required to be filed with the registrar under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 435 and 436 and any other document required to be filed under Part XII of the Act and these regulations, shall be duly – (i) certified to be a true copy by the public officer in the country where the company is incorporated to whose custody the original is committed; or (ii) certified to be a true copy by a Notary public of the country where the company is incorporated; or (iii) certified to be a true copy by an affidavit of an authorized officer of the company duly authorized in the country where the company is incorporated; or (iv) apostillised by the designated competent authority of the state of origin of the foreign public document, who have acceded to the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents (Apostille Convention) of 1961 and such state is also recognized by the Government of Pakistan for receiving of apostillised documents.”