Most of the public limited companies registered in Pakistan, other than the multinationals, usually have one family member on each of the Boardroom seats or, at the very least, has the majority shares controlled by a single family. So the family virtually has total control over composition and functioning of the Board. It is very common to see the son working as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and father as the Chairman of the Board, and they continue to work in their respective capacities, irrespective of their age or experience. In other countries, the CEO of company is technically an employee that is obliged to vacate his office just like other employees of the company after reaching the superannuation age. In our case, the father and son, despite their advancing age, continue to reign and lord over the company affairs according to their own sweet will and schedule of time. According to Articles of Association of the law, the re-election of a company director has to be done once every three years to ensure continuity so they keep re-electing each other every three years and never retire. That is neither fair nor in the interest of small shareholders, investors and public at large. We need to bring in a new law, as they have in UK and some other countries through which the SECP should make retirement of the Chief Executive Officers and Chairmen of the Boards of public limited companies compulsory after they have reached the age of superannuation. That would stop monopolization of the company affairs by one family that controls Boardrooms around the country. -ANWAR KHALIL SHEIKH, Lahore, July 14.