Companies penalised for law violation

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs10 million on Clearshore Ltd, its directors and directors of Ahmed Spinning Mills Limited (ASML) for violation of Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting Shares and Takeovers) Ordinance, 2002.

The directors of ASML, acting in concert with Clearshore, disposed of the company’s investment in shares of United Sugar Mills Limited (USML) to Clearshore at a price of Rs16 per share. Subsequently, the Clearshore’s holding in USML was sold off at a price of Rs333 per share, thus depriving the ASML’s shareholders of their rightful share of Rs213.425 million.

The SECP has also restrained Clearshore and the directors of ASML from receiving the balance on the sale of USML’s shares and directed that the payment be diverted to be held in a trust.

The SECP said, in keeping with its mandate and declared objectives, it had acted in the interest of investors, otherwise, the transfer of payment would have been harmful to the interest of shareholders.

The commission said it worked to ensure compliance and transparent functioning in corporate entities in order to promote investor confidence.

Source: The News