The federal government has approved the appointment of Dr
Kabir Ahmed Sidhu as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
of Pakistan (SECP) with immediate effect. The decision was notified by the
Finance Division.
Dr Sidhu currently serving as Chairman Competition
Commission of Pakistan (CCP), where he led one of the most significant
institutional turnarounds in the Commission’s history. When he took office in
August 2023, the CCP was facing long-standing enforcement bottlenecks and a
large backlog of litigation and enquiries.
Within two years, the Commission reduced its court case
backlog by over 70 percent, with 434 cases decided out of 567 pending matters.
This progress helped restore the regulator’s credibility and enforcement
capacity. It developed precedent and jurisprudence of the CCP.
Dr Sidhu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, an LLM in
Banking, Insurance and International Business Law, and a PhD from the
University of Manchester. He also earned a postgraduate diploma in Civil
Litigation from the Manchester Law Society and certifications in mortgage and
financial advice from the London Institute of Banking and Finance. His doctoral
research focused on the investor protection and regulation of stock exchanges
in UK, US and Shariah Compliant stock exchanges.
With over 20 years of professional experience, Dr Sidhu has
worked with insurance companies, law firms, and financial institutions in the
UK, as well as government ministries in Pakistan. Prior to joining CCP, he served
as a Senior Legal Consultant at the Ministry of Law. He has worked in
privatisation Commission as a Senior Legal Consultant. He was a research
associate with leading academics in UK universities.
During Dr Sidhu’s tenure at the CCP recovered approximately
PKR 1.36 billion in penalties. In contrast, the Commission’s total recoveries
in the last 20 years was merely 20 crore. The regulator also imposed over PKR 2
billion in fresh penalties through new enforcement actions.
His tenure saw a renewed crackdown on cartels and market
abuse. Major investigations and actions were initiated 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
automobiles. These included Kingdom Valley, Friesland Campina, Unilever, Engro,
Al-Ghazi Tractors, Hyundai Nishat, British Lyceum, and 3N Lifemed, sending a
clear signal against misleading business practices.
A major institutional reform during his tenure was the
launch of the Market Intelligence Unit (MIU), CCP’s first AI-powered
surveillance arm. This initiative marked a shift toward data-driven, proactive
detection.
On the market facilitation front, the CCP processed 139
mergers across 34 sectors. High-profile transactions included the PTCL–Telenor
merger, Shell Pakistan’s sale to Wafi Energy, and several deals in financial
services, energy, and logistics. The PTCL–Telenor merger order, in particular,
was widely noted by stakeholders for balancing investment facilitation with
competition safeguards.
CCP also set up center of excellence in competition law. Its
purpose was to carry out competition assessment studies to modernize legal and
regulatory framework in every sector of the economy.
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