Richard Morin - Controversial to the last

May 30, 2019 (MLN): The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/ Managing Direct (MD) of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Mr. Richard Morin stepped down from his position at the exchange in a Board of Directors meeting on May 28, 2019, where his resignation was approved with immediate effect.

The well versed finance expert vacated his position for his successor after holding it for only a year and a half, while his predecessor Mr. Nadeem Naqvi held the position for around six years.

While Morin’s appointment at the exchange was observed with a fragment of controversy at the time, investors were still hopeful for better results at the stock market given his vast knowledge of the field and his past experiences as the head of Mauritian stock exchange.

Morin is the first foreign national to ever be appointed for this role in the history of PSX, and it was primarily this factor which invoked opposition from some brokers and members of the exchange on his appointment in January 2018.

According to media reports at the time, this set of investors were concerned about Morin’s unfamiliarity with the social and stock market culture in Pakistan. Moreover, another area of worry was the extra expense that hiring Morin incurred on the PSX as he was appointed against a mammoth salary and added benefits.

On the other hand, another set of investors took his nationality as a positive sign for the market as they expected new investments from abroad and fresh techniques to restore the local market’s performance.

To their and everyone else’s utter dismay, the benchmark KSE - 100 dropped by 12.23% during his tenor and at its lowest point it fell by 18.53%. However, to be completely fair, the market did gain 14.56% at one point.

During Mr. Richard Morin’s tenor, the KSE – 100 index opened at 40,711 points, peaked to an overall high of 46,637 points in April 2018, sank to a low of 33,166 points in May 2019 and closed at 35,697 points.

So what took him down from his post? A few months back, Richard Morin was served a notice for breach of his employment contract at the exchange for working for another business overseas, Montreal-based Archer Wealth Management.

He responded to the PSX board saying that he had declared his association with Archer Wealth Management when he took up his position at PSX.

Local media reported that while there was no conflict of interest on the matter, the issue of ‘false declaration’ was still a problem since all shareholder directors in listed companies are required to declare their interest in other entities, each year.

Allegedly, since no such reports were filed by Richard Morin, the issue remained unresolved.

It is apparent from accounts of his testimony to PSX that the exchange was not satisfied with his response but before any action could be taken, Morin took a voluntary step to pull himself out of the situation and resigned a week later.

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