ISLAMABAD: In an indication of growing trend of corporatization, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) witnessed a growth of 35 % in registration of companies during November, over corresponding month of 2011.

The SECP has registered 334 companies during October, raising the total corporate portfolio as on November 30, 2012, to 63,226 companies. The authorized capital and paid-up capital of these companies, registered in November 2012 was Rs1.75 billion and Rs526 million respectively.

The increasing trend in new incorporation was evident from the registration figures since July 2012 and 315, 274, 244 and 320 companies were enrolled during months of July, August, September and October respectively.

The breakdown of the new incorporations during the month was 311 private companies, 16 single-member companies, 4 non-profit associations, 2 foreign companies and 1 public unlisted company. The two foreign companies, one each belongs to Saudi Arabia and the US.

The corporate growth is a positive sign and reflects expansion of documented, formal and structured corporate sector which results into more business opportunities and development of the economy. The increasing trend in registration of companies has been made possible due to the SECP’s pro-registration facilitation mechanism.

Almost 60 % of new registration is taking place using online services. Foreign investment by nationals from Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada and the UK has been witnessed in 4 new local companies. The companies are from education, power generation, software development and services sectors.

In November, the services got the lead where 55 new incorporations were made, followed by trading with 49 companies, tourism with 35, information technology with 32, construction with 20, communications with 16, power generation with 13, corporate agricultural farming with 12 and transport with 11 companies.

The highest incorporation was witnessed at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Lahore where 113 companies were registered in November. It is followed by CROs in Karachi and Islamabad, registering 91 and 81 companies respectively. The CRO in Multan registered 19 companies, CRO Peshawar and Faisalabad registered 15 and 14 companies respectively, while the Quetta CRO registered 1 company.

During the month returns for increase in the authorized capital of 130 companies were also accepted, with the total authorized capital increment of Rs7.36 billion. In addition, 77 companies filed returns for increase in paid-up capital with the total enhancement amounting to Rs18.27 billion, during the month.