Corporate & Commercial
The firm’s founding practice — company formation, SECP and FBR compliance, and the commercial agreements that keep a business running.
Corporate & Commercial overview
This is where KBL & Associates started, and it remains the practice every other area is built around. Company formation and ongoing corporate compliance in Pakistan sit under the Companies Act, 2017, which replaced the older Companies Ordinance, 1984 and is administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan — the body created by the SECP Act, 1997 to regulate the corporate sector, insurance, non-bank finance companies and capital markets. Incorporation itself, along with day-to-day filings such as annual returns and beneficial-ownership declarations, is processed through SECP’s eZfile portal under the Companies (Incorporation) Regulations, 2017. A founder choosing between a Private Limited Company, a Single Member Company, or a Limited Liability Partnership under the separate Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2017 is making a structural decision that affects governance, liability and how easily the business can later raise capital — not just a paperwork choice. Beyond SECP, a company operating in Pakistan also has to register with whichever provincial revenue authority applies to where it renders services, and enrol with EOBI and provincial social security schemes once it has staff. A company that is incorporated correctly and kept compliant with SECP from day one avoids most of the problems that later show up as disputes, tax notices, or blocked financing rounds.
Company Incorporation
Private Limited, Single Member Company, LLP and branch/liaison office registration under the Companies Act, 2017, filed through SECP’s eZfile portal.
SECP Compliance
Annual returns, statutory registers, director change filings and beneficial-ownership (GIS) filings.
Provincial Registrations
Registration with PRA, SRB, KPRA or BRA depending on where services are rendered, plus EOBI and social security enrolment.
Shareholder & Commercial Agreements
Founder and shareholder agreements, vendor and client contracts, and due diligence for transactions.
Foreign Investment Structuring
Structuring for foreign shareholding and ongoing corporate advisory for businesses bringing capital into Pakistan.
Governing law & regulators
The statutes and regulators that actually govern corporate and commercial matters in Pakistan — the specific instruments a transaction gets tested against, not a general overview.
Principal statute governing company incorporation, governance and compliance in Pakistan, administered by SECP.
secp.gov.pk/companies-act-2017/ →Governs formation and regulation of LLPs as an alternative to a company structure.
secp.gov.pk →SECP’s operating regulations for the incorporation process, filed through the eZfile portal.
secp.gov.pk →Establishes SECP as regulator of the corporate sector and capital markets.
secp.gov.pk →Common questions, answered directly
Most businesses register as a Private Limited Company with SECP under the Companies Act, 2017, filed through SECP’s eZfile portal, followed by provincial tax registrations and ongoing annual compliance filings.
It isn’t legally mandatory, but a lawyer helps structure the shareholding, draft the Memorandum and Articles correctly, and avoid compliance problems that are far more expensive to fix after incorporation than to get right at the start.
Other practice areas
Incorporating from abroad
Foreign shareholders can incorporate a Pakistani company without travelling. Subscriber documents are executed where the client lives, apostilled or attested, and filed through the SECP portal from Lahore. The same route covers director changes, annual filings and beneficial-ownership reporting.
Overseas instructions are a routine part of the firm’s work rather than an exception. Where a matter also touches family law — guardianship, succession or a child’s documents — it is handled by the same firm rather than referred out. See child adoption and guardianship from Pakistan or all thirteen practice areas.