Regulatory, Governance and Policy Work/Academia

The Firm has been involved in regulatory, governance and policy consultancy work in, inter alia,  the areas of justice sector reform, legal education and legal profession reforms, corporate governance  and corporate regulation.

Mr. Osama Siddique former Senior Associate of the Firm (and currently Head of Department  (Law) at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was appointed as “Law and  Justice Advisor” for the “Access to Justice Programme” (AJP) of the Asian Development  Bank (ADB) in order to spearhead the efforts of AJP, geared towards bringing about nation wide  reforms in the areas of legal education, legal profession, equitable gender representation, legal  literacy, legal aid and other related areas.

The Firm conducted an extensive Research Study on the ‘Simplification and promotion of  laws and procedures for Corporatization of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)’ – for the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Ministry of Industries  and Production, Government of Pakistan  (MOIP), funded by the World Bank. The Study involved  the designing of a comprehensive and proactive strategy to collect relevant information on the   SMEs, a detailed review of the legal and regulatory framework for the Corporatization of SMEs,  development of a policy framework for the Corporatization of SMEs and the designing and  initiation of a promotional strategy for the Corporatization of SMEs.

The Firm has completed a comprehensive Research Study titled ‘Harmonizing the Code of  Corporate Governance with other Laws/Regulations in Pakistan.’ The Research Study  was conducted for the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and funded by  the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Research Study involved review and  comparison of the Pakistani Code and twenty two Pakistani laws to gauge the nexus, overlap and  conflicts, review of other national codes and their implementation mechanisms, proposals for  amendments to the Code and other laws for harmonization of regulatory framework of the  corporate sector and proposals for policy guidelines for effective implementation of the Code.

An exhaustive Country Report titled “Comparative Analysis of Corporate Governance in   South Asia: Chartering a Roadmap for Bangladesh” has also been submitted by the Firm. The Country Report was authored for the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and commissioned by   DFID. The Country Report outlines, discusses and critically evaluates the corporate governance  legal regime in Pakistan and is co-authored with the economics faculty at the Lahore University of  Management Sciences (LUMS). The Country Report looks not just at the various statutory  instruments and case law on the subject but the recent regulatory codes and guidelines, such as  the Code of Corporate Governance introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission of  Pakistan (SECP) in the recent past.

The Firm’s interest in legal academia is reflected by the fact that both Partners regularly teach  law courses and participate in specialized law moots, seminars and workshops in the areas of  constitutional law, human rights, corporate governance and securities laws. The Firm’s Senior  Consultant regularly lectures and participates in seminars, held at diverse fora in Pakistan as well  as internationally.