CCP upholds orders in appeal filed by KSE

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Appellate Bench comprising of Chairman Khalid Mirza and Member (Legal) Ms Rahat Kaunain Hassan has passed orders in an appeal filed by the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) related to the placement the floor.
     
A statement issued by the commission here on Thursday said the bench upheld the order of the single member and has agreed that such decision resulted in and operated as having the effect of fixing price horizontally between members of the stock exchange in their capacity as owners of securities.
      
The floor also fixed price element vertically for the provision of brokerage services to buyer, sellers, investors and traders which is why it has been held as a violation of section 4, it said.
     
It has, however, been observed that in determining whether the members had the intention or were the force behind taking of such a decision is a matter which could have been addressed had the brokers been made party to the proceedings.
     
Although from the facts available on the record it seems quite plausible to argue that the subjective intention of the brokers was behind the 'objectively intended purpose of the decision' of the stock exchange.
      
This on the facts seems to have been the prime consideration for the KSE Board and the interests and demands of its members, the press release said.—APP