Karachi, December 15, 2022 (PPI-OT):VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) has reaffirmed Corporate Governance Rating of the Pak Kuwait Investment Company (Private) Limited (PKIC) at ‘CGR-9+’. This rating reflects a ‘very high level of Governance’. Previous rating action was announced on December 28, 2021. Corporate governance ratings are based on evaluation of key governance areas of the institution including regulatory compliance; ownership structure; composition and operations of the Board of directors (BoD) and executive management; self-regulation; financial transparency and relationship with stakeholders.

Rating factors in a well-established governance framework at PKIC supplemented by effective functioning of board and management level committees. Active oversight was maintained by the board on the compliance front. All Directors on the Board became fully certified in 2022. One position of the GoP nominee director remains vacant with the same expected to be filled by the GoP in due course. Rating incorporates effective operations of three board level committees having well-defined objectives, scope and reporting procedures.

Board meetings deliberations include strategic planning, policy framework and policy revisions, internal controls, macro-economic developments, governance and control framework. Overall attendance record of all Committee meetings was satisfactory. Management Committees are also in place comprising all group and department heads with being mostly chaired by the Managing Director. In addition, third party evaluation of Board was conducted which assessed performance of the Board on the higher end of the scale. No turnover at senior management level was observed during the ongoing year. Stability in management and a well-defined structured succession plan reflects strength of corporate governance framework.

As per management, development of human capital remains a top priority of the management; in view of the same regular training sessions of employees, information security risk and risk management exercises are undertaken to enhance operational control framework. The Company’s risk governance framework incorporates stringent application of risk management practices along with continued enhancement of risk assessment models and monitoring. Level of financial and qualitative disclosures in the public domain is satisfactory. The Board remuneration policy is in line with the corporate governance guidelines.

During the review period, the Company also received lowest risk rating under Composite Risk Rating (CRR), which measures asset quality, -and risk taking appetite of the company. In addition, management has made concerted efforts to update and revise policies internally at varying levels of risk incorporating best practices and also validated different risk-based models externally. Significant emphasis is placed on green banking initiatives to promote and implement environmental compliance. Lately, the Company has been pursuing strong growth in its advances portfolio in a bid to increase the proportion of core income. On a summarized basis, PKIC has taken advanced level measures to adhere to the best governance practices and remains compliant with the provisions of the code of corporate governance.

For more information, contact:
Director Compliance and Rating Analytics,
VIS Credit Rating Company Limited
VIS House, 128/C, 25th Lane off Khayaban-e-Ittehad,
Phase VII, DHA, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-35311861-72
Fax: +92-21-35311873
Email: bilal@jcrvis.com.pk
Website: https://www.vis.com.pk/