The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 16,929 new companies in the financial year 2019-20, compared with the previous corresponding financial year, indicating a growth of 17%, the SECP annual report said. This has raised the total number of registered companies to 120,395. In the new incorporations, approximately 71 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, 26 percent were registered as single-member companies. Three percent were registered as public unlisted, association’s not-for-profit, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership. In 2019-20, 98 percent companies were registered online and around 44 percent companies registered same day. In the period under review, trading sector took a lead with the incorporation of 2,863 companies, followed by Information Technology with 2,027, services with 1,929, construction with 1,752, tourism with 829, real estate development with 773, food and beverages 637. Education with 609, corporate agricultural farming with 496, engineering with 437, marketing and development with 398, textile with 370, pharmaceutical with 349, mining and quarrying 294, healthcare with 284, transport with 282, chemical with 264, auto and allied with 195 companies. While fuel and energy with 189, logging with 186, e-commerce with 181, communication with 165, cosmetics and toiletries with 157, broadcasting and telecasting with 152, power generation with 142, cable and electric goods with 140, paper and board with 134, steel and allied 74, arts and culture with 53 companies. Wood and wood products with 50 and 518 companies in other sectors. Foreign investment has been reported in 550 new companies. Moreover, 27 foreign companies have established places of business in Pakistan during the last fiscal year. During the financial year 2019-20, the SECP has issued 46 licenses to not-for-profit associations under section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, with objects of arts, sports, social services, charity etc. Besides, licenses of 45 not-for-profit associations have been renewed, while licenses of 30 notfor-profit associations were revoked due to non-compliance. As of June 30, 2020, the number of companies licensed under section 42 of companies act totaled 933. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan monitors trading activities of beneficial owners of listed companies through filing of online annual returns by the listed companies, returns filed by beneficial owners and trading data of PSX. The SECP received 1,737 returns both from the listed companies and beneficial owners during the year under review. The schemes of arrangement, amalgamation and reconstruction enable companies to consolidate their resources, achieve synergies in business operations and exploit tax-planning opportunities.