KSE allowed six-month grace period to enter into UTS

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has allowed six-month grace period for entering into a Unified Trading System (UTS).

The CCP’s announcement issued Monday states the KSE shall enter into a Unified Trading System (UTS) between Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) in line with the international securities market that has moved towards a geographically neutral market linked in cyberspace.

This shall eliminate the present distortion of competition, and ensure availability of and access to the best price of commonly listed securities to all investors in order to restore competition in the market.

“Refusal on the part of KSE cannot continue,” read the CCP order in KSE’s violation of Section 3 of the Competition Ordinance 2007.

In the event of non-compliance, KSE will be liable to pay a penalty of Rs50 million at the end of the six-month grace period and thereafter an additional penalty of Rs250000 per day if non-compliance continues.

The UTS benefits all the players in the securities market as investors now have a common platform - hence best price can be made available and greater transparency can be ensured in the market.