Lahore Stock Exchange Becomes The First Exchange To Introduce Regular Interaction With The Listed Companies

Lahore Stock Exchange has kicked off its new initiative of holding regular interactions with the listed companies with a view to get their feedback on the existing listing framework and to also address the problems being faced by the listed companies.
The meeting was participated by the representatives of more than 60 listed companies. The new initiative started under the name of the “Listed Companies Roundtable” is aimed at enabling LSE to start providing better services to its listed companies. The roundtable would serve as a regular platform where the listed companies are able to highlight the practical difficulties in their compliance with various securities laws & regulations and to also give suggestions or comments for improvement therein by either the frontline regulator or the SECP.
The representatives of the companies appreciated LSE’s initiative and stressed the need of having such roundtables on six monthly basis. The participants of the meeting also asked the LSE management to also involve the other stock exchanges in its initiative so that all stakeholders are able to collectively work for the betterment of the market.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LahoreStock Exchange, Mr. Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry, while addressing the participants, stated that the Listed Companies are the products which are made available to the investors through our exchanges. He said that since the investors make their investment decisions on the basis of the information provided by the listed companies, therefore, the underlying principle of the securities laws and the regulations is to only ensure that the companies provide accurate and timely information about all material aspects to their shareholders. He said that it is in this perspective that the Exchanges would be willing to work with the listed sector to ensure that the new compliance standards don’t impose extra cost on the companies.
The company secretaries and the compliance officials of the listed sector participating in the meeting highlighted various practical problems being faced by them to comply with the latest regulations such as the latest code of corporate governance and the matters involving the minority or small shareholders.
The Director Securities Market Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan(SECP), Mr. Amir Muhammad Khan Afridi also addressed the meeting and responded to their questions. Mr. Afridi, stated that such discussion forums should be held regularly and assured the participants that the Commission would engage with the listed sector for its future regulations.
The representative’s feedback was individually collected in writing on the Feedback card distributed by the management of LSE to function as a record. The feedback gathered from the listed companies shall assist Lahore Stock Exchange to serve its clients in a better way and to maintain a strong business relationship with them. Through forums like these, LSE aims to become a more professional and socially responsible corporate body.