The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has notified a package of amendments to the lending provisions of the Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) Regulations, 2008, updating requirements for lending NBFCs, peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms and non-banking microfinance companies. The reforms introduce a new regulated credit guarantee activity and strengthen borrower transparency and credit reporting expectations across the NBFC sector. Key measures include relaxing experience requirements for founders and chief executive officers of lending NBFCs and introducing a simplified borrower factsheet intended to improve understanding of loan terms, pricing and obligations. A new class of activity, Credit Guarantee Institution (CGI), is added to the NBFC framework to provide credit guarantees to lenders, with enhanced exposure limits and sustainability standards. The P2P framework is revamped to allow securitized lending and to enhance prudential limits, transparency in fund flows, disclosure requirements and governance expectations for P2P service providers. In the non-banking microfinance sector, maximum loan size limits for microenterprise and housing finance increase to PKR 3 million from PKR 1.5 million and the definition of microenterprise is revised, while board requirements are tightened to require at least two female directors with at least one independent. The amendments also make reporting to credit bureaus mandatory for all NBFCs.

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