ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday appointed Zafar Abdullah as acting chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for three months. 

A notification for the same has been issued and the appointment was approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. 

The premier also approved Zafar Hijazi's suspension as chairman of SECP.

An FIA inquiry team had found Hijazi guilty of tampering the records of companies owned by the Sharif family and recommended registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him.

On Friday, Hijazi was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after Special Judge Central Tahir Mehmood's cancelled his bail.

A lower court on July 17 had granted a five-day pre-arrest bail to Hijazi against two surety bonds worth Rs250,000 each after Hijazi filed for a pre-arrest bail as per Section 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan, citing medical grounds as the basis for the request.