The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan announced that the Sindh Special Court (Offences in Banks) has delivered Pakistan’s first conviction for insider trading in a case brought by SECP, convicting Mr. Zakir Hussain Somji, Assistant Vice President Investments at Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, for violating Section 128 of the Securities Act, 2015. The court imposed a PKR 8,599,938 penalty, calculated as three times the unlawful gain. The case arose from SECP’s inspection of suspicious trading identified through analysis of Karachi Automated Trading System data from January 1, 2014 to February 2, 2016, with SECP suspecting misuse of insider information linked to Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited’s investment and disinvestment decisions. SECP’s investigation found that the accused purchased 11,795,100 shares of various companies, including 1,230,900 shares acquired from the bank, and sold 11,836,600 shares, including 4,915,200 shares sold back to the bank, generating an unlawful profit of PKR 2,866,646; SECP filed a complaint under Section 128, punishable under Section 159. The judgment was delivered on June 14, 2025, following a full trial, and the penalty is to be deposited within seven days, failing which the convict will be remanded to jail until full payment is made.
Securites & Exchange Commission of Pakistan 2025-06-17
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan secures first insider trading conviction with PKR 8,599,938 penalty
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan secured the first insider trading conviction, with the Sindh Special Court convicting Mr. Zakir Hussain Somji of Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited for violating Section 128 of the Securities Act, 2015. The court imposed a PKR 8,599,938 penalty, three times the unlawful gain. The conviction followed SECP's investigation into suspicious trading activities linked to the bank's investment decisions.