Pakistan’s SEC shares insider trading, market manipulation complaints with FIA

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has shared with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) details of completed investigations and filed criminal complaints related to insider trading and market manipulation.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has the mandate to investigate money laundering in predicate offences under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. Insider trading and market manipulation are included among such predicate offences.

As per the AML Act, 2010, insider trading and market manipulation are the only predicate offences falling within the regulatory ambit of the Commission.

Considering its mandate under the AML Act, 2010, the FIA requested the Commission to share details of all cases involving insider trading and market abuse, to conduct a parallel investigation under the AML Act, 2010.

In view of the FIA's request and considering the provisions of the AML Act, 2010, the Commission shared details of all such cases of insider trading and market manipulation where investigations had been completed and criminal complaints had been filed in the relevant courts.

Accordingly, a list of 27 criminal complaints filed in the court of law since 2008 was shared with the FIA in September under the Anti-Money Laundering (Referral) Rules, 2021.

It is pertinent to mention that the records of these cases are public in nature as they are part of the judicial record and can be accessed by any authority or person applying to the court of law.

It is also clarified that the referral of cases does not accuse the companies whose scrips were manipulated or the brokerage houses through which trading was undertaken.

Rather, it only specifies the persons found involved in insider trading and market manipulation, as defined in the Securities Act, 2015, while trading in those scrips.