SECP proposes accreditation framework for insolvency professionals

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has opened a public consultation on a draft accreditation scheme for people who handle winding up and rehabilitation work, as Business Recorder reported. The scheme reaches liquidators, provisional managers and insolvency specialists alike. The consultation paper can be downloaded from the regulator's website.

The aim is to build a pool of skilled practitioners who can run winding up procedures and assist financially troubled businesses in recovering. Under the draft, both new applicants for empanelment and existing panel members would need to complete a three-stage course run by the Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan (IFMP). The course would combine written and oral tests with yearly continuing professional development obligations.

A separate code of conduct would also bind liquidators and provisional managers, the latter handling temporary duties while proceedings continue. The measures respond to shortcomings noted by the World Bank in a 2022 assessment of adherence to international standards and codes. Designers looked to approaches used in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and India.