Institutional Investors should play their due role for development of Domestic Capital Market: Executive Director Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan

Lahore, September 02, 2013 (PPI-OT): The Institutional Investors have a critical role in the development of the Capital Market and they should play their active role in making the markets as safe and secure venues for the creation of wealth for the society, this was stated by Mr. Imran Iqbal, the Executive Director of the Securities Market Division of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan at the Institutional Investors Roundtable arranged by Lahore Stock Exchange.

The Roundtable was organized by Lahore Stock Exchange to promote the participation of the institutional investors in the LSE and to discuss their views about the regulatory and market structure issues.

The conference was also addressed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lahore Stock Exchange, Mr. Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry who briefed the participants about the effective risk management and settlement systems at vogue in Pakistan.

Mr. Imran besides welcoming the participants of the Roundtable also appreciated the efforts of the Lahore Stock Exchange management in organizing such an event, which he stressed should be held on regular basis by all the markets.

He said that both the institutional and the retail investors need to be reached out by the Exchanges on periodic basis so that the exchange of feedback and information sharing takes place on the continuous basis.

He said that the markets exist only for the investors and it is the duty of the apex and the front line regulators to inform their customers about the continuous modernization of the markets through the development and the implementation of a robust regulatory framework in the country.

The Roundtable meeting was held to primarily attract and promote the participation of the institutional investors at the Lahore Stock Exchange. During the meeting, various ideas about the increased involvement of the institutional investors with LSE and its brokers were discussed and the challenges were identified to create a roadmap for the effective service delivery by the LSE to its bulk investors.

The roundtable was informed by Mr. Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry that considering that the Lahore Stock Exchange has already managed to have the introduction of the institutional delivery settlement (IDS) mechanism on the Broker to Broker (b2b) trades, the LSE brokers now stand ready to offer their intermediary services to the institutional investors without any time or price disadvantages. He further said that with the risk management by NCCPL having being made as an integral part of the b2b trades, LSE brokers now have the capacity to ensure trade completion without any added risk to the institutional investors.

It may be mentioned that Lahore Stock Exchange prides itself for being an exchange for the retail investors since inception in 1971. Lahore Stock Exchange, has to its distinct credit that it has been a pioneer in introducing a culture of investment not only in the city of Lahore but also in other major cities of Punjab, namely Faisalabad and Sialkot.

Lahore Stock Exchange was the only exchange in Pakistan to have set up trading floors in both of these cities and the LSE’s brokerage outreach covers about 20% of the UIN population in the country. Today, the average volumes generated from the LSE (inclusive of broker to broker trading) amount to about 20% of the total market volumes in Pakistan. Lahore Stock Exchange also has one of the most advanced trading platforms at any other stock exchange in Pakistan, and has been a pioneer exchange in bringing technological innovations.

The Roundtable was attended by the representatives of many insurance, banking, non baking finance companies and the mutual fund industries. The participants of the meeting commended Lahore Stock Exchange on this initiative and urged the need for a similar meeting to be held at Karachi in the coming months.

For more information, contact:
Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE)
19, Khayaban-e-Aiwan-e-Iqbal,
P.O. Box: 1315,
Lahore-54000, Pakistan
Tel: +9242 636 8000
FAX: +9242 636 484 -85
E-mail Address: info@LahoreStock.com
Web Site: http://www.lse.com.pk