The Strategic Digital Wallet Company has moved a step closer to full operation, after the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises approved four independent directors for its board. The company was set up to manage, safeguard and administer Pakistan’s sovereign virtual assets.
The committee took the decision on a summary from the Finance Division. The approval covers independent directors only. It does not name a chief executive or set out an operational launch date, and no such details were included in the account of the meeting.
What the Strategic Digital Wallet Company will do
The firm’s brief is narrow and specific. It will manage Pakistan’s sovereign virtual assets, safeguard them and administer them on behalf of the state. The board appointments are a governance step in that process: a state-owned company holding digital assets needs a board in place before it can act with formal oversight.
The move follows the creation of the company, which ProPakistani reported earlier. The latest decision fills the board rather than creating a new body. For readers following Pakistan’s crypto policy, Feature Pakistan has covered the country’s crypto regulation debate, which frames how digital assets are treated in law and policy.
PSO board changes approved
The same committee meeting approved new nominations for Pakistan State Oil. On a Petroleum Division summary, it approved a female independent director for the PSO Board of Management. It also approved one more independent member for the board.
These nominations form part of the process to reconstitute the PSO board after its previous statutory term expired. No names were published in the account of the meeting, and no date was given for the new board’s first sitting.
Clean Environment Fund activated
The committee also approved a proposal from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination to activate the Clean Environment Fund Company. The company will sit under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency.
Two ex-officio directors and three independent directors will run it. The structure mirrors the pattern used for the digital wallet firm: a mix of official and independent directors, with the independent members providing outside oversight.
Pharma export council deferred
Not every proposal passed. The committee deferred a Ministry of Commerce proposal to set up the Pakistan Pharma Export Promotion Council. The council was to be formed as a Section 42 company under the Companies Act, 2017, and placed under the administrative control of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
The ministry must now hold further consultations with stakeholders before bringing the proposal back. No new date was set for its return.
Why the board appointments matter
State-owned companies face a basic test: who watches the managers. Independent directors are meant to answer that test, because they do not hold executive roles in the firm. For a company holding sovereign virtual assets, that oversight matters more than usual, since the assets are digital, fast-moving and hard to value by sight.
The appointments do not by themselves launch trading, investment or any public service. They put the board in place so that later decisions carry formal approval. The next steps to watch are the naming of executives, the publication of the firm’s rules, and any statement on what assets it will actually hold.
What is the Strategic Digital Wallet Company?
It is a government-owned company set up to manage, safeguard and administer Pakistan’s sovereign virtual assets.
How many directors were approved?
Four independent directors were approved for its board, on a Finance Division summary.
What else did the committee decide?
It approved PSO board nominations and activated the Clean Environment Fund Company. It deferred the Pakistan Pharma Export Promotion Council proposal.
Is the company hiring staff now?
No staff hiring was announced. The decision covered independent directors for the board, not recruitment of employees.
