RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly on Wednesday passed “The Companies Bill, 2017” with a majority vote after the government rejected all amendments moved by opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians.

The National Assembly adopted the bill with all those amendments with which it was recently passed by the Senate.

The PPPP members even objected that the bill in its current form is likely to fringe upon autonomy of the provinces and urged the government not to pass it in haste.

PTI member Asad Umar moved two amendments in the bill while PPPP member Syed Naveed Qamar proposed one amendment but the government rejected them all and passed the bill with a majority vote.

Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan said that sufficient discussion and debate has already been done on the bill; therefore the voting on it should not be delayed.

According to statement of object and reasons of the bill, it intends to replace the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (XLVII of 1984) in order to consolidate and amend the laws relating to companies so as to encourage and promote corporatisation in the country.

The bill also says that earlier amendments in the Companies Ordinance 1984 were made in piecemeal and were narrowly focused, resulting in disconnect and overlap in regulatory framework and there is a dire need to review and revamp the thirty-two years old legislation to provide competitive legal framework for the corporate sector.

The bill will ensure maximum participation of members in decision-making process of the company through the use of modern electronic means of communication, and aims to address the issues relating to protection of interests of minority shareholders and creditors, it says.

“It will facilitate the growth of economy in general and corporate sectors in particular by providing a simplified procedure for ease of starting and doing business, greater protection of investors and augment corporatisation in the country,” the bill says.

The bill provides adequate manners against fraud, money laundering and terror financing, and necessary provisions have been proposed regarding powers of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) including joint investigation and the provision requiring officers of a company to take adequate measures to curb such violations, it says.

The bill further aims to give immediate impetus to the economy, and to stimulate economic growth there is an emergent need to promulgate the proposed Companies Bill, 2017 to provide relief and incentives to corporate sectors, especially medium and small sized companies.

“The market experts and business community were at the unison during various stakeholders’ consultations on the Companies law that it should be enacted at the earliest as it will elevate Pakistan’s economy and address longstanding demands of the business community. Unless emergent legislative steps are taken, Pakistan’s corporate sector will not be able to compete with the international market players without a reduction in cost of the incorporating and doing business,” it says.

The encouragement of use of modern communication technology coupled with simplified regulatory procedure, as envisaged in the new Companies bill, will provide much needed relief to the corporate sector, it says. Moreover, Pakistan has recently been upgraded to emerging market status and there is a huge international interest to invest in Pakistan due to various policies initiatives of the government, it says.

“The expeditious merger and acquisition mechanism is also necessary to address corporate solvency and growth in Pakistan,” the bill says.

Three other bills were also moved in the National Assembly including; “The Public Interest Disclosure Bill, 2017”, “The Juvenile Justice System Bill, 2017,” and “The Pakistan Tobacco Board (Amendment) Bill, 2017.”