LSE operated as a Stock Exchange for a period of 45 years, from 1971-2016, before its transformation and continuation as a multi-business owning entity from 2016 onwards. During this period, LSE witnessed a number of changes in its governance, management and ownership structure as a company.

From 1971 to 2012, LSE continued to operate as a Guarantee Limited Company, having no share capital or having no formal ownership structure. In 2012, the exchange was demutualized and the members/stock brokers of LSE were issued pro-rated shares in the company, thereby separating their ownership interest from their trading interests as the members of the stock exchanges. In 2016, the stock exchange operations of LSE were merged with the other two stock exchanges of the country, i.e., Karachi and Islamabad Stock Exchanges, which led to the establishment of a single and unified stock exchange under the name of Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Initially, the members of the stock exchange in their capacity as the perceived owners of LSE, used to elect the Company’s Board of Directors and the President/Chairman and the Vice-President/Vice-Chairman of the Exchange every year. These office bearers used to perform the senior management functions, who also used to appoint various Committees of the members for handling specific critical functions of the Company.

For almost twenty years, the secretarial and administrative functions of the Company used to be headed by the Secretary. In 1993, the position of the ‘General Manager’ was created to supervise the affairs of the exchange on independent basis. During 1998, under the guidelines of the Capital Market Development Plan of the Asian Development Bank, LSE Board was required to re-structure itself by reducing the number of the member directors and appointing Non-Member directors, besides establishing the position of a professional Managing Director/CEO, so as to improve the governance structure of the Exchange and also enhance investors’ confidence in the integrity of the marketplace.

During 2005, the new regulatory guidelines discontinued the election of Chairman of LSE from amongst the elected Member/Broker directors, and instead required that the office of the Chairman should be held by an Independent Director. From 1970-2005, some prominent individuals who held the office of the President/Chairman and Vice President/Vice-Chairman included, Mr. Naseer A. Sheikh (Crescent Group), Mian Rafique Saigol (Kohinoor Group), Ch. Nazar Mohammad (Servis Industries), M. Aslam Amin (Seth Abid Group), Mian Tajammal Hussain, Mr. Bashir Ahmad Buksh, Mr. Perviaz Ahamd, Khawaja Hamad Saeed, Mr. Noshir F. Dastoor, Mirza Sher Dill, Dr. Yasir Mahmood, Grp. Capt (R) Naeem A. Khan, Mr. M. Tabassum Munir and Syed Asim Zafar, while, the post of Managing Director/CEO was held by Mr. Jamil Ahmad, Mr. Samir Ahmad and Mr. Hamid M. Imtiazi.

From 2005 to 2012, the prominent persons who, having been appointed as the Independent Directors of the Exchange, were elected to the office of the Chairman of LSE, included, Mr. Ibrar A. Mumtaz (Fazal Din Pharma), Mr. Hamesh Khan (President Bank of Punjab), Mr. Arif Saeed (Servis Industries). From 2012 to 2016, the office of the Chairman of LSE was held by personalities like Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan (Nishat Group), Dr. Salman Shah (former Federal Finance Advisor), Mr. Khalid Aziz Mirza (former Chairman SECP and CCP) and Mr. Muhammad Naeem. During this time, Mr. Hamid Imtiazi, Mian Shakeel Aslam and Mr. Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry served as the MDs/CEOs of the Exchange.

After the merger of the stock exchange business on Jan 11th, 2016, the residual/surviving company of LSE was given the license to operate as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) under the name of LSE Financial Services Limited (LSEFSL).

From 2016 to 2022, Mr. Rashid Rahman Mir served as the Chairman of the Company. After acquiring the management control of LSEFSL (before the demerger), the new owners elected their group leader, Mr. Zahid Latif Khan, as the Chairman of LSEFSL. During this period, a number of professionals also served as the full-time CEOs of the company, which included, Mr. Naveed Amin, Mr. Farid Malik, Mr. Sibghat ullah Khalid, Mr. Nafees Ahmad and Mr. Amir Zia. In 2023, Mr. Ghulam Mustafa was appointed as the first CEO of LSEFSL after its demerger from the other group companies, with the objective of repositioning the company into a listed deposit-taking NBFC, while Mr. Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry was appointed as the group CEO of all LSE companies.