Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (‘SECP’), on February 14, 2008, announced its initiative for setting up a capital markets institute as “Pakistan Institute of Capital Markets (PICM)”. The Institute will conduct various examinations leading to certification for different segments of the capital market. PICM will be a separate legal entity, and shall function as an association not for profit registered under Section 42 of Companies Ordinance, 1984. The Board of Directors of the Institute shall comprise of the nominees from public and private organizations, which shall be the sponsors of the Institute. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute will be exofficio Chairman of SECP. SECP invited various institutions on February 14, 2008 to discuss the concept of this Institute, and requested them to participate in the establishment of this Institute both in terms of efforts and monetary resources. The stakeholders, comprising of the following institutions, attended the meeting and greatly appreciated this initiative by SECP:

1) Karachi Stock Exchange (Guarantee) Limited
2) Lahore Stock Exchange (Guarantee) Limited
3) National Commodity Exchange Limited
4) Central Depositary Company of Pakistan Limited
5) National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited
6) Pakistan Banking Association
7) Mutual Fund Association of Pakistan
8) CFA Association of Pakistan
9) Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan
10) Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan
11) Center for International Private Enterprise, Pakistan

The participants especially appreciated the feasibility study conducted by Center for International Private Enterprise on establishment of training Institute in Pakistan. SECP announced to initially commit Rs 10 million for establishing this Institute, while the stakeholders agreed to an initial contribution of Rs 1 million each. The Institute shall also seek to obtain an affiliation with a reputed international university.

The first qualification exam that PICM intends to offer and certify is AnalystCertification Program (ACP), which will be applicable to all individuals providing any kind of investment advice. For this purpose, SECP has requested the CFA Association of Pakistan (CFAAP) to do all the background work including development of the curriculum for the program and data bank of questions for the certification exam in the interim till such time that PICM is set up and is fully operational.

ACP is a two component program; whose first component is Level I of the CFA examination, which is globally being administered twice a year by the CFA Institute, USA, in many countries of the world.

The second component of the program comprises of a Local Module being developed by the CFAAP. As part of the project, CFAAP will develop a curriculum outline along with key learning outcomes based on elements of local practice and appropriate regulations, create a question-bank in a multiple-choice format and finalize arrangements with a credible institution (external organization) for conducting examination and grading for all candidates.

A working committee has been formed from the above stakeholders, which shall carry out an overall feasibility of the project, and a roadmap for its implementation. SECP will invite more stakeholders, including Investment Banks Association of Pakistan, to participate in the establishment of this Institute.