Corporate restructuring rescuing financially distressed yet viable companies rather than liquidating them has become central to Pakistan’s economic reform agenda. This article examines the evolution of Pakistan’s legislative, institutional, and corporate-governance frameworks governing financial distress. It traces the transition from the winding-up-oriented regime of the Companies Ordinance 1984 to a modern rescue framework encompassing the Corporate Restructuring Companies Act 2016, the Companies Act 2017, and the Corporate Rehabilitation Act 2018 under SECP and State Bank oversight. The article argues that while Pakistan has assembled the statutory components of a rescue culture, implementation remains hampered by weak enforcement, judicial capacity constraints, underdeveloped service markets, and firm-level governance deficiencies. Incorporating recent 2025–2026 SECP initiatives and IMF/World Bank reform commitments, the paper offers recommendations for a balanced restructuring regime, treating legal rescue as inherently linked to corporate governance.