Business Recorder
TRG Pakistan confirmed on Monday that the shares acquired by JS Bank on May 21, 2026 belonged to Zia Chishti, the co-founder and former chairman of the company. In a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), TRG Pakistan said it was “informed by its associate, The Resource Group International Limited (TRGI) that, during an enforcement court proceeding against Zia Chishti in the United States last week, Chishti confirmed, under oath, that the above-mentioned acquisition of shares was from his account, pursuant to a call on the shares Chishti had provided as collateral on a loan made to him by JS Bank”. TRGI further stated that it reserves all rights pertaining to the legality of any such transfers given an arbitration ruling in the United States in its favour in early 2025. TRG Pakistan added that it has not yet received a disclosure from Chishti for this transaction. Subsequent to this transfer, JS Group and other members of the JS Group hold 159,980,453 shares (29.3%) in TRG Pakistan, while Chishti holds 6,557,500 shares (1.2%). Last week, JS Bank had informed that it acquired roughly 81.36 million shares representing 14.92% of TRG Pakistan Limited at the rate of Rs62.92 per share “through an enforcement of security”. In a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on May 25, 2026, JS Bank said the transaction, which it said was conducted on May 21, “does not attract part IX of the Act in terms of section 109(1)(c) of the Act. 2”. “Before this acquisition JS Bank Limited and persons acting-in-concert were holding 78,622,164 shares i.e; 14.41% of the Company. After abovementioned acquisition through enforcement of security; our total shareholding in the company is 159,980,453 shares, which represent 29.33% of the total issued voting shares of the Company.” In the financial markets, enforcement of security refers to the legal process where a lender (like a bank or broker) takes control of and sells shares that were pledged as collateral for a loan, usually because the borrower has defaulted on their payments. In an intimation sent by JS Bank Limited to Zia Chishti – the founder and former CEO of TRG Pakistan – in January 2025 the financial institution notified the latter of an event of default and his pledge of shares against securing a credit facility of Rs2.59 billion. Back then, JS Bank stated in the letter, a copy of which is available with Business Recorder, that it was exercising its right to call and enforce the pledge to the extent of nearly two-thirds of the shares and keeping the remaining pledged in its favour. A document, dated December 2024, of the Central Depository Company – the sole securities depository in the country – also indicated that Zia Chishti had his position almost entirely pledged, while remaining minute amount had been frozen. This is the latest development regarding TRG Pakistan that has been the subject of news headlines for a number of months now. Just days ago, a long-running court battle involving TRG Pakistan Limited and Zia Chishti took a fresh turn after a US federal court ruled that key claims raised by Chishti had already been waived under a release agreement executed in 2022. In a notice to the PSX then, TRG Pakistan said the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) ruled that “claims by Mr Chishti against the company and its affiliates relating to actions undertaken prior to the 10 January 2022 date of the release agreement are forever released and cannot be adjudicated in any forum”. Disclaimer: A board member associated with Business Recorder also serves on the board of TRG. All opinions remain independent.
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