The meeting was the first ever highest level dialogue on common matters to pave the way for strategic cooperation amongst the exchanges after demutualisation. Members of the Board of Directors of the LSE, management and directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange and Islamabad Stock Exchange also attended the meeting.
Dr Salman Shah said that there is no doubt about the tremendous potential for our capital market to grow. He advised the Exchanges that they should work on a 5-year development plan outlining concrete strategies covering all the areas and identifying the efforts needed at exchanges end and the regulatory support required by the SECP and the government.
The LSE Chief Executive Officer Aftab Ahmed Chaudhry presented a comprehensive overview of the current state of affairs of the capital market and its comparison with the regional Exchanges. An overview of the current financial standing of the three exchanges was also presented and discussed. He said that the recent strong performance of Pakistan's stock markets have provided another opportunity to develop our market and it is imperative that the exchanges instead of putting individual efforts, must join hands and work together not only for developing the market but also towards bringing operational efficiencies to the ecosystem.
While the purpose of the meeting was to build an initial consensus on collaboration, still various options and opportunities for collaboration in areas of operations, technology and regulations were brought on table. It was encouraging to note that all the exchanges agreed in principal on working together with a common goal and vision and also agreed to explore all possible options.
KSE and ISE representatives lauded the efforts of LSE and appreciated its idea of formally combining efforts. An initial agreement on forming a joint steering committee was also reached which may be formalised shortly. For this KSE and ISE have invited LSE to visit their Exchange to formally present the proposal to their respective Boards.