Anti-corruption reporting in Pakistan remains a weak spot for the country's listed companies, according to a new assessment by Transparency International Pakistan (TI Pakistan). The group's Transparency in Corporate Reporting Assessment (TRAC) 2026 found that listed firms are only moderately transparent overall. Disclosure on human rights, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and on anti-corruption programmes emerged as the main weaknesses.
The assessment covered 104 public limited companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which recorded an average score of 66.73%, or 6.67 out of 10. That is lower than the 72.3% average in the previous edition, which assessed 69 companies, and the gap suggests that disclosure tends to weaken beyond the largest corporations. No company reached a perfect overall score. The top three were Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) at 92.71%, Fauji Cement Company Limited at 91.67% and Sazgar Engineering Works Limited at 91.04%.
Where the disclosure gaps are
The weakest area was human rights and corporate social responsibility (CSR), where companies averaged 45.98%. ESG disclosure came next at 47.84%, and anti-corruption programmes averaged 53.41%. The assessment checked human rights due diligence, child labour prevention, employee safety, wage payment and grievance procedures, and only Fauji Cement achieved full transparency in that category.
On anti-corruption, the report pointed to thin public information on staff training, on how company policies are communicated and on the channels available for reporting corruption-related concerns. OGDC, Fatima Fertiliser Company Limited, Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited and Lucky Core Industries Limited had the highest scores in this category. Companies did far better on organisational structure (92.49%) and domestic financial reporting (92.50%), both in the report's significant-transparency range.
Gender, non-discrimination and disability inclusion averaged 68.11%, which the report rated as moderate. It flagged shortcomings in disability inclusion and in how companies disclose the grievance mechanisms available for reporting discrimination.
Progress among repeat companies, and the limits of the score
A like-for-like comparison looked more positive. Of the 63 companies assessed in both editions, the average overall score rose from 72.01% to 78.45%, an improvement of about 8.9%. The report credited better performance on assessment questions that stayed the same across the two editions.
The assessment relied on public information, including annual reports for 2024 and 2025, company websites and other public documents. It examined eight areas: anti-corruption programmes, organisational transparency, country-by-country reporting, domestic financial reporting, procurement linked to government contracts, human rights, gender and disability inclusion, and ESG disclosure. TI Pakistan stressed that the score measures what companies disclose, not whether they put their policies into practice, so a low score does not by itself prove unethical conduct and a high score does not guarantee effective implementation.
The report said fuller disclosure supports investor confidence, public trust and lower governance risk. It set this against a wider problem, noting that Pakistan is grappling with corruption and weak revenue mobilisation, meaning difficulty collecting enough tax and other public income. Stronger reporting standards, it suggested, could help companies show accountability and support a more transparent business environment, and better anti-corruption reporting in Pakistan would be one way to do that.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Transparency International Pakistan ki nayi report ke mutabiq 104 listed companies ki transparency ka ausat score 66.73% raha. Insani huqooq aur ESG ki maloomat sab se kamzor hain, aur anti-corruption programmes ki disclosure bhi 53.41% par hai. Is ka matlab yeh nahi ke har company ghair akhlaqi kaam kar rahi hai, kyunke report sirf yeh naapti hai ke kya bataya gaya hai. Behtar disclosure se investors aur aam logon ka aitmaad barh sakta hai.
