SECP Marks 39,704 Non-Filing Companies Inactive

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has declared 39,704 companies inactive after they failed to submit annual returns, financial statements or both for four years. The action restricts the affected companies’ access to banking and other financial services until they clear their outstanding filings.

Companies carrying the inactive status will not be permitted to open new bank accounts. Their existing accounts will remain frozen, and other financial services will be unavailable while the non-compliance continues.

The restrictions also extend to corporate administration. Changes in the directors of affected companies will not be registered during the inactive period. A company can regain active status by submitting all outstanding documents and completing the applicable legal requirements.

Lahore and Islamabad account for most of the affected entities. The regulator identified 13,927 inactive companies in Lahore and 13,859 in Islamabad. The remaining total includes 4,868 companies in Karachi, 2,031 in Peshawar, 1,861 in Multan, 1,384 in Faisalabad, 1,102 in Gilgit, 436 in Quetta and 236 in Sukkur.

The Companies Regulations, 2024 provide the broader legal framework for inactive status. Regulation 62 states that, subject to Section 424 of the Companies Act, the registrar may initiate the process when a company has not filed financial statements or annual returns for two consecutive financial years. The current enforcement action concerns a narrower group reported to have remained non-compliant for four years. The regulations are available at https://www.secp.gov.pk/document/companies-regulations-2024/.

The regulator separately reminded applicable companies with a June 30 financial year-end to hold their annual general meetings by October 28, 2026, and complete annual-return and ultimate-beneficial-ownership filings within their prescribed timelines. The requirements vary according to company type, paid-up capital and whether corporate particulars have changed, meaning the same form or deadline does not necessarily apply to every entity. The compliance notice is available at https://www.secp.gov.pk/annual-compliance-2026-hold-agm-by-october-28-2026-and-complete-applicable-annual-return-and-ubo-form-19-filings-within-the-prescribed-timelines/.

Chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said separating inactive entities from the corporate register would improve its reliability and help protect the financial system from the misuse of dormant companies. He added that affected businesses retain a route back to active status by meeting their filing obligations.

For the companies concerned, the immediate consequence is operational rather than merely administrative: banking access, financial services and changes in directors remain restricted until their records are regularised.