ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has suspended the asset management services licence of the National Asset Management Company Limited (Namco), and imposed a penalty of Rs1 million on the company, and of Rs150,000 on each of its directors for failing to comply with various regulatory requirements.

Namco is currently managing one closed-end fund Namco Balanced Fund (NBF) and one open-end scheme Namco Income Fund (NIF) with net assets of Rs1081.87 and Rs115.28m respectively.

The major transgressions of the company include its failure to comply with the minimum equity requirement, non-conversion of Namco Balanced Fund (NBF) into an open-end scheme despite approval of its certificate holders in January 2013, non-adherence of Namco Income Fund (NIF) to minimum prescribed fund size, and failure to appoint CEO, and directors to the board within the prescribed time period.

While taking cognisance of the ongoing non-compliance, the SECP issued show-cause notices on Nov 1, 2013 and Feb 7, 2014 to the Namco`s board of directors, and after completing the due process of law, and giving various opportunities to the company to explain itself, it was established that Namco knowingly and wilfully violated the provisions of the prevalent regulatory framework.