The federal government has appointed Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
A notification has been issued by the Finance Division.
Dr Sidhu is currently serving as the chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) since August 2023.
The CCP made significant institutional turnarounds in its history under his leadership.
Within two years, the CCP reduced its court case backlog by over 70 per cent, with 434 cases decided out of 567 pending matters, helping restore the regulator’s credibility and enforcement capacity.
During Dr Sidhu’s tenure, the CCP recovered approximately Rs1.36 billion in penalties. In contrast, its total recoveries in the last 20 years were merely Rs20o million. The regulator also imposed over Rs2bn in fresh penalties through new enforcement actions.
As CCP head, Dr Sidhu launched a renewed crackdown on cartels and market abuse, initiating major investigations and actions against cartels in poultry, sugar, edible oil, telecom, and medical services. Several of these actions were upheld by the Supreme Court and the Competition Appellate Tribunal, providing strong judicial validation to CCP’s enforcement work.
Dr Sidhu also placed strong emphasis on consumer protection and deceptive marketing enforcement. The CCP imposed significant penalties on companies operating in real estate, FMCG, education, pharmaceuticals, and automobile sectors.
