Criminal case filed over share buyback leak

August 07, 2025 (MLN): The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has filed a criminal complaint against the Company Secretary of a listed firm, four of his close relatives and a private limited company over alleged insider trading violations under the Securities Act, 2015.

The complaint, filed at the Special Court (Offenses in Banks), Sindh at Karachi and admitted as Complaint No. 14 of 2025, follows a detailed investigation by the SECP into suspicious trading activity between August 22 and October 12, 2023.

According to the SECP, certain clients accumulated shares of a listed company during this period while material information regarding a planned share buy-back and delisting was not yet public.

The Commission determined that the Company Secretary had access to this price-sensitive information as early as August 11, 2023, through his official role managing the delisting process.

The investigation found that the Company Secretary shared this confidential information with his relatives and the CEO of an associated firm and allegedly financed the purchase of shares using insider knowledge.

The accused parties then sold the shares after the public disclosure of the delisting, generating illicit gains of Rs338.085 million. None of the accused had previously traded in the company’s shares.

Under the Securities Act, 2015, insider trading is a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison, or a fine not exceeding Rs200m, or up to three times the amount of illicit gain.

SECP is committed to take effective supervision and enforcement actions to ensure the integrity of the capital market and protect investors from misconduct.

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