AXIS GLOBAL LIMITED vs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/HOD ADJUDICATION I Reglns — 2024 CLD 442 SECURITIES-AND-EXCHANGE-COM

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AXIS GLOBAL LIMITED VS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/HOD ADJUDICATION I Reglns. 4(a), 13(7), 6(3)(a), 6(3)(c), 6(4), 6(8) & 7(1)(b)---Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act (XLII of 1997), Ss. 40-A & 33---Anti-Money laundering policies---Regulatory requirements, non-compliance of---Scope and effect---Appeal to the Appellate Bench of the Commission---Appellant who was licensed with Pakistan Stock Exchange ('PSX') as a securities broker, was imposed penalty by the Commission for contravention of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism) Regulations, 2018 ('the Regulations')---Contention of the appellant/company was that that NADRA Verisys System was non-feasible/unavailable to the stock-brokers---Held, that the appellant had a responsibility to strictly adhere to the relevant requirements outlined in the Regulations, ensuring full compliance in both letter and spirit especially in the context that that anti-money laundry policies had been in existence since the year 2012 under the PSX guidelines---Appellant's argument claiming the unavailability of the NADRA Verisys System lacked supporting evidence regarding any efforts made to obtain the said System---Respondent/Commission while passing the impugned order did take into account the factors contended by the appellant and imposed the penalty accordingly---Appellant failed to meet the mandatory requirements set forth in the Regulations---Regulated individuals were expected to demonstrate a high level of vigilance in adhering to Anti-Money Laundry laws and should not have sought excuses to evade compliance---However, recent record indicated a significant reduction in occurrences of non-compliance with the Regulations during the inspection when contrasted with the instances identified in the prior inspection---Persistence of non-compliance observed in the second evaluation suggested that the appellant had undertaken measures to enhance their diligence practices---Bench, under the said circumstances of the present case, considered it justified to reduce the penalty, therefore, the impugned order was modified to the extent that the penalty imposed upon the appellant was reduced from Rs.650,000 to Rs.300,000---Appeal, filed by the Securities Broker, was disposed of accordingly.

AXIS GLOBAL LIMITED vs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/HOD ADJUDICATION I Reglns — 2024 CLD 442 SECURITIES-AND-EXCHANGE-COMMISSION-OF-PAKISTAN

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