SECP to share insider trading, market manipulation cases with FIA

KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has decided to share with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) the details of all cases of insider trading and market manipulation in which investigations have been completed and criminal complaints have been filed in relevant courts.

One SECP spokesperson said on Wednesday that the decision was taken in response to FIA’s request for details of all cases involving insider trading and market abuse for parallel investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (AML Act, 2010).

“It must be noted that the referral of cases does not accuse the companies whose scrip has been manipulated or the brokerage houses through which trading was undertaken, rather it only points towards the person(s) found involved in Insider Trading and market manipulation, as defined in Securities Act, 2015, while trading in those scrips.”

The SECP, in line with its mandate, has been actively investigating cases of insider trading and market manipulation and consequently filing criminal complaints in a court of law under the Securities Act, 2015.

The FIA has the mandate to investigate the aspect of money laundering in predicate offences under the AML Act, 2010, and insider trading and market manipulation are among such predicate offences, he said.

“It is pertinent to mention that the record in respect of said cases is public in nature as the same is part of the judicial record and can be accessed by any authority/person applying to the court of law. Accordingly, the list of all 27 cases was shared with FIA under the Anti-Money Laundering (Referral) Rules, 2021,” the spokesperson explained.