SECP Issues 8 Notices In Bajwa Family's Data Breach Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) issued eight show-cause notices on Tuesday over the case of data leakage of family members of retired General Asim Bajwa, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister. Two other officers were issued warning letters in the same case.

The head of the fact-finding committee presented a report to SECP on Saturday. The report on data leakage stated that the committee found eight officials responsible for the breach of information as they allegedly made various mistakes.

The fact-finding committee suggested firm action based on SECP human resource manual for the accused.

As per the report, the show-cause notices were issued to eight officials, among whom is the Additional Director of Market Surveillance Department Arsalan Zafar Hijazi, son of Zafar Hijazi. Whereas, the other officials found in mistake are from the companies’ registration office and IT wing of SECP.

Hijazi has been sent on forced leave and his laptop confiscated. However, it was reported that he has deleted the data from his laptop and had obtained a letter from the HR department of SECP for application for a UK visa.

The employees who received these show cause notices are required to write a reply within the next seven days. After that, the individual hearings will be held in front of the commission. The punishments will be decided based on the SECP HR manual, which clearly defines the penalties.

Read more: Asim Bajwa Addresses The Disinformation Against CPEC

This fact-finding committee was created after news about Asim Bajwa’s family members' assets and investments in CPEC first came in focus. The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister has since then rebuffed these allegations.