Islamabad, May 13, 2026: Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue Syed Naveed Qamar on Thursday expressed serious reservations over proposed indemnity provisions in amendments to “The Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finance) Amendment Act, 2026,” warning against granting blanket immunity to financial institutions and their officials.
Chairing a meeting of the committee at Parliament House, Naveed Qamar observed that “boilerplate clauses” providing extensive legal protection under the pretext of actions taken in “good faith” should not become a routine feature of legislation.
He stressed that legal protections must either apply equally to all parties or should not be extended in a one-sided manner.
The committee conducted a detailed clause-by-clause review of the proposed amendments, with particular focus on the newly introduced Section 15A related to housing finance and foreclosure procedures.
During the deliberations, committee members voiced serious concerns that the proposed foreclosure mechanism, if enacted without sufficient safeguards, could become excessively harsh and place an unfair burden on borrowers and ordinary citizens.
Members acknowledged that financial institutions require legal mechanisms to recover defaulted loans, but emphasized that the legislation must maintain balance, fairness and adequate protections for borrowers. They also called for meaningful remedies and appellate safeguards to prevent misuse of authority and arbitrary foreclosure actions.
The committee further discussed the broader issue of increasing institutional powers without corresponding accountability mechanisms.
Following detailed discussions, the committee directed the concerned ministry and relevant stakeholders to incorporate the agreed amendments and observations into a revised draft for further consideration.
The committee also approved the minutes of its previous meeting held on May 7, 2026.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Nafisa Shah, Hina Rabbani Khar, Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Muhammad Jawed Hanif Khan, Arshad Abdullah Vohra and Shahida Begum, along with the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, secretaries of the Finance and Law ministries, and senior officials from the Finance Division and the State Bank of Pakistan.
