Rahat Kaunain Hassan

Ms Rahat Kaunain Hassan has been the chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan since 26 July 2010. Under her leadership, the Commission gained international repute for achieving substantive progress in competition law enforcement in a short space of time. Previously, Ms Hassan served the Commission as a member (Legal and Office of Fair Trading) from its establishment in November 2007. At present the legal and corporate affairs departments are overseen by her as the relevant member. Ms Hassan received her LLM degree from King’s College London, having focused her academic work on the law of international finance and international business transactions. In 2001, Ms Hassan was appointed general counsel/executive director of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Soon after the conclusion of her tenure at SECP, Ms Hassan established her own law firm, handling civil and commercial litigation and regulatory work. However, her commitment to public service resulted in her accepting the nomination as member of the Competition Commission of Pakistan in November 2007. As member, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Office of Fair Trading within the Commission. She has authored numerous position papers, guidelines and policy notes on important issues of competition law and policy. Moreover, she has co-authored most of the seminal Orders passed by the Commission, including those that resulted in breaking the most pernicious cartels.A working mother of four children, Ms Hassan has been a high achiever in her field, and in recognition of her commitment to the public service, she received the prestigious Women of Achievement Award in 2010. She has also been nominated for the Sitara-e-Imtiaz award.