{"id":77833,"date":"2025-06-18T10:55:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T05:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=77833"},"modified":"2025-06-18T10:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T05:58:27","slug":"habib-metro-banks-avp-found-guilty-in-landmark-insider-trading-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/business\/habib-metro-banks-avp-found-guilty-in-landmark-insider-trading-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Habib Metro Bank’s AVP found guilty in landmark insider trading case"},"content":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: In a <\/span>landmark<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>verdict, the <\/span>Sindh Special Court<\/a> (Offences in Banks) has <\/span>handed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>down\u00a0<\/span>the first-ever insider trading conviction in Pakistan in a case\u00a0<\/span>instituted<\/span> by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).<\/span><\/p>\n

The court <\/span>declared<\/span> Zakir Hussain Somji, Assistant Vice President, Investments <\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited<\/a> (HMB), guilty of insider trading\u00a0<\/span>under<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Section 128 of the Securities Act, 2015, reported TechJuice.<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

SECP Chairman Akif Saeed\u00a0welcomed<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>decision<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>saying<\/span>\u00a0that the ruling will\u00a0<\/span>further<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>bolster\u00a0<\/span>investor confidence in Pakistan<\/span>‘<\/span>s capital markets and\u00a0<\/span>facilitate<\/span>\u00a0long-term capital formation. He\u00a0<\/span>hoped<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that the\u00a0<\/span>ruling<\/span> would\u00a0<\/span>act<\/span> as a precedent for outstanding <\/span>cases and ongoing investigations\u00a0<\/span>related<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>insider trading in Pakistan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case\u00a0arose<\/span>\u00a0from SECP<\/span>‘<\/span>s\u00a0<\/span>meticulous<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>scrutiny<\/span>\u00a0of suspicious trades\u00a0<\/span>reported<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>via<\/span> the Karachi Automated Trading System (KATS)\u00a0<\/span>from January 1, 2014, to February 2, 2016. Investigations\u00a0<\/span>found<\/span>\u00a0that Somji\u00a0<\/span>had<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>abused\u00a0<\/span>insider information about <\/span>HMB<\/span>‘<\/span>s investment\u00a0<\/span>choices<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>gain<\/span>\u00a0personal\u00a0<\/span>benefits<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the details, the accused <\/span>bought<\/span>\u00a011,795,100 shares\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>different<\/span>\u00a0companies, including 1,230,900 shares (10.43%)\u00a0<\/span>bought<\/span>\u00a0from HMB, and\u00a0<\/span>offloaded<\/span> 11,836,600 shares, <\/span>4,915,200 (41.52%)\u00a0<\/span>of which\u00a0<\/span>were\u00a0<\/span>offloaded<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to HMB, <\/span>making<\/span>\u00a0unlawful\u00a0<\/span>profits<\/span>\u00a0of Rs2,866,646.<\/span><\/p>\n

SECP\u00a0lodged<\/span>\u00a0a formal complaint under Section 128,\u00a0<\/span>which is\u00a0<\/span>punishable under Section 159 of the Securities Act, 2015.\u00a0<\/span>After<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>conducting\u00a0<\/span>a full trial and\u00a0<\/span>hearings<\/span>\u00a0by SECP<\/span>‘<\/span>s Special Public Prosecutors and the\u00a0<\/span>defence<\/span>, the court\u00a0<\/span>gave<\/span>\u00a0its verdict on June 14, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

The accused was\u00a0found<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>guilty\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>sentenced<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to a fine of\u00a0<\/span>Rs8,599,938, three times<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>unlawful<\/span> profit, with\u00a0<\/span>seven days for payment.<\/span>\u00a0The default<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>will\u00a0<\/span>lead<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0imprisonment until\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>amount<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>recovered<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fully<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The landmark insider\u00a0dealing<\/span>\u00a0conviction\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>almost<\/span>\u00a0six months after SECP\u00a0<\/span>discovered<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>up<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>37 registered companies that <\/span>engaged\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>illicit<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>money<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>dealings<\/span>\u00a0in Pakistan.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: In a landmark\u00a0verdict, the Sindh Special Court (Offences in Banks) has handed\u00a0down\u00a0the first-ever insider trading conviction in Pakistan in a case\u00a0instituted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The court declared Zakir Hussain Somji, Assistant Vice President, Investments in\u00a0Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited (HMB), guilty of insider trading\u00a0under\u00a0Section 128 of the Securities Act, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":77834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[29535,29536,29534],"class_list":["post-77833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-habib-metropolitan-bank-limited","tag-insider-trading-case","tag-sindh-special-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77833"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77837,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833\/revisions\/77837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}