SECP marks 39,704 companies inactive over four years of missed filings
The regulator says the firms cannot open new bank accounts until they clear overdue returns; 1,102 of them are registered in Gilgit.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has marked 39,704 companies inactive after they failed to file annual returns, financial statements, or both, for four years, the regulator said in a statement on Saturday.
The companies now carry the designation "Inactive by Registrar" in the SECP's records, a status the regulator says will be visible to banks and other stakeholders.
Business Recorder reported that, under the statement, the companies cannot open new bank accounts until they file their overdue documents and regain active status, and cannot access financial services or register changes in their directors in the meantime. ProPakistani reported that the existing accounts of the inactive companies would also remain frozen until the filings are completed. The statement as carried by Business Recorder did not say existing accounts would be frozen.
Lahore holds the largest share of the list with 13,927 companies, just ahead of Islamabad with 13,859. Karachi accounts for 4,868, Peshawar 2,031, Multan 1,861, Faisalabad 1,384, Gilgit 1,102, Quetta 436 and Sukkur 236.
Filing annual returns, and financial statements where required, is a legal obligation under the Companies Act, 2017. The SECP said prolonged non-filing weakens the corporate register and can hinder efforts to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
The regulator said the register continues to grow. Pakistan had 317,002 registered companies at the end of September 2026, and the SECP registered 43,559 new companies in the previous financial year, 24 per cent more than the year before. Name reservation and incorporation are now fully digital, it said, and 99.9 per cent of new companies are registered online.
"A clean and credible registry is the bedrock of trust in the corporate sector," SECP Chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu was quoted as saying in the statement. ProPakistani reported him saying that a transparent and reliable corporate register was the foundation of business confidence.
The SECP said companies can return to active status by submitting all outstanding filings.
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