ISLAMABAD, January 14: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 3,151 companies in 2010, as compared to 2,762 during last year, showing a 12 % increase.
These include 2,881 private companies, 142 single-member companies, 46 public unlisted companies, 42 foreign companies, 34 non-profit associations licensed under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984, 3 companies limited by guarantee under section 43 of the Ordinance and 3 trade organizations. The total corporate portfolio as on December 31 consisted of 57,689 registered entities.
The total authorized capital and paid-up capital of the companies registered in 2010 was Rs43.5 billion and Rs16.9 billion respectively. During the year, 910 companies increased their authorized capital with the aggregate authorized capital increment of Rs163.16 billion and 171 companies raised their paid-up capital with the total paid-up capital increment amounting to Rs38.67 billion.
With 479 companies, the highest number of incorporations took place in the trading sector, followed by 412 in services sector, 201 in construction sector, 197 in I.T., 150 in hajj and umrah services, 135 in communication sector, 125 in food and beverages, 96 in textile and 92 in the pharmaceuticals sector.
The trend of new registration of companies has increased from last year, which has been made possible due to the SECP’s pro-registration facilitation mechanism in its registration regime and government’s investment-friendly initiatives. eServices has further made the company registration process easier and encouraged the companies to abide by companies’ regulations. Almost 40% of the newly registered companies got registered online, indicating growing acceptability by the general public for eServices.
The SECP will continue to encourage the corporatization of businesses to contribute to the progressive development of the economy and healthy growth of the corporate sector.