Icap

BEFORE THE COMPETITION COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN

IN THE MATTER OF SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ISSUED TO INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF PAKISTAN (ICAP) (F. NO: 1(52)/ICAP/C&TA/CCP/2012)

Dates of hearing:

October 4, 2012 November 1, 2012 November 16, 2012 November 27, 2012 Ms. Rahat Kaunain Hassan Chairperson Mr. Abdul Ghaffar Member Dr. Joseph Wilson Member

Present:

On behalf of: Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP)

Mr. Ahmed Saeed, President Mr. Abdullah Yousaf, Member Council Mr. Yaqoob Satttar, VP (South) Mr. Naeem Akhter Sheikh, VP (North) Mr. Shoaib Ahmed, Secretary Mr. Salman Akram Raja, ASC Mr. Sameer Khosa, Barrister, Ms. Amna Hussain, Advocate Mr. Malik Ghulam Sabir, Advocate Mr. Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan Mr. Haroon A. Jan, Head of ACCA Lahore Mr. Rehan Uddin, Head of ACCA Karachi Ms. Noor Ulain, Head of ACCA, Islamabad

M/s. ACCA Pakistan Ltd

1

1. This order shall dispose of the proceedings initiated pursuant to the Show Cause Notice No 105/2012 dated 17 September 2012 (the „SCN‟) issued to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) for the prima facie violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010 (the „Act‟).

2. The SCN was issued against ICAP primarily on the basis of the directive bearing no. ICAP\DET\001855\1174 dated 4 July 2012 (the „July Directive’) whereby ICAP prohibited its members and chartered accountant firms from training non-ICAP accountancy students. The said directive was alleged to be prima facie in violation of Section 4 of the Act as it appeared to have had the object or effect of preventing, restricting or reducing competition. However, ICAP among other grounds maintains that pursuant to the subsequent directive dated 24 October 2012 (the „October Circular‟), the prohibition was further narrowed down only to such members and accountancy firms who are approved training organizations of ICAP, which renders the SCN without basis.

Background and Facts

3. ICAP...