SECP registered 26,502 companies in FY 2021-22

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 26,502 new companies in FY 2021-22, which shows an increase of 4 percent as compared to previous FY. The total number of registered companies with the SECP now stands at 172,206.

Real estate development & construction sector led the number of new incorporations with 4,791 new companies registered, followed by information technology with 3,760 new companies and trading with 3,534 new companies.

As a result of end to end digitisation of the company incorporation process, about 99.5 percent of companies were registered online while 1,640 foreign users were registered from overseas. Total capitalisation (paid-up capital) with regard to newly incorporated companies for the current month stood at Rs 42.4 billion.

The SECP has made significant reforms to facilitate the registration of the companies by fully digitising the registration process, along with company registration certificates. With this automation, companies can now be registered online from any part of the world, without needing to visit SECP offices.

The SECP’s e-services have been integrated with provincial Revenue departments to facilitate registration of companies with provincial Revenue departments at the time of incorporation. Company tax numbers are also issued online.

In addition, an online portal has also been created for banks to facilitate companies in opening corporate accounts after registration. The SECP has launched a WhatsApp helpline as well to provide immediate assistance to the investors. All these measures led to notable improvements in ease of doing business, one result of which can be seen through steady increase in the number of new incorporations.

During fiscal year 2022, nearly 64 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 33 percent were registered as single member companies. Three percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLP).

The SECP data showed services sector with 2,408 new incorporations, ecommerce with 1,038, education with 962, food and beverages with 937, tourism with 790, textile with 701, marketing & advertisement with 671, corporate agricultural farming with 622, engineering with 611, pharmaceutical with 534, healthcare with 492, chemical with 431, transport with 423, mining and quarrying with 361, logging with 332, power generation with 326, auto and allied with 303, communication with 251, cosmetics and toiletries with 225, paper and board with 218, cables and electric goods with 212, fuel and energy with 211, broadcasting and telecasting with 161, steel and allied with 135, wood and wood products with 110, arts and culture with 109, parlor and other related services with 79, sports and allied with 72, leather and tanneries with 69, synthetic and rayon with 55, sports goods with 47, finance and banking with 45, footwear with 38, glass and ceramics, and vanaspati and allied with 28 each, insurance with 17, cement with 10 and 355 companies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 672 new companies from Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea South, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK Ukraine, the USA, Vietnam, Yemen and Zambia.

As a result of the SECP integration with the FBR and various provincial departments, 25,042 companies were registered with the FBR for generation of NTN, 539 companies with EOBI, 234 companies with PESSI/SESSI and 343 companies with Excise and Taxation department.