The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission's (BSEC) newly appointed chairman, Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, has stressed that those who have committed irregularities in the capital market will be punished.
If anyone from the stock market regulator is involved in irregularities, they would also be punished, he said. “We need to create a system so that the manipulators can't bring the market back to the way it was before. We will investigate all the complaints.”
He made the pledges at a press briefing at the BSEC in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Sunday. BSEC Commissioners ATM Tariquzzaman and Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury were present.
Maqsood emphasised the need to address the widespread allegations of misconduct levelled against his predecessors, Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam and M Khairul Hossain.
He said the new commission will conduct a comprehensive review of its operations over the past 10 years. These allegations include facilitating market manipulation and engaging in IPO scams through the misuse of regulatory powers.
Maqsood stressed that restoring investor confidence requires a thorough examination of past practices and the implementation of necessary reforms to prevent future abuses.
"We have started to investigate the reasons behind previous irregularities in the stock market and taken steps to eliminate them. We want to restore the confidence of investors. We have started to address the issues that have plagued the market in the past," he said.
He said that BSEC is now working to bring back transparency and good governance in the capital market. "Restoring investor confidence requires a thorough examination of past practices and the implementation of necessary reforms to prevent future abuses."
He said that the BSEC has conducted a comprehensive review of its operations in the past.
Many beneficiary owner (BO) accounts are currently inactive, he said and opined that to bring these investors back into the market, their confidence must be restored first.
"We will work in two areas. One is a core area and the other is a non-core area. At first, we will bring back transparency in transactions. The second one is good governance. Representatives of the board will have to ensure transparency," he added.
The BSEC chairman said, “Our first task is to bring back governance in the market. We have gone backwards in the past 14 years of irregularities. It will take time but if we stay focused and everyone works together, hopefully we will overcome this problem soon.”
He said that to increase the interest of investors, the transparency of the market should be increased. “No one is interested in muddy or dirty water, but when the water is clear and clean, then people become interested in that water. With increased transparency, market manipulators will no longer have any influence.”
He also talked about market intermediary companies. “We are also thinking about better corporate governance in market intermediary companies. Individual directors can be appointed in brokerage houses, merchant banks and other institutions.”
Regarding former BSEC commissioners and current officials involved in manipulation, Maqsood said, “We will start the investigation from BSEC. No one involved in manipulation will be exempted. One by one, all those involved in capital market irregularities will face punishment.”
He also said, “We started work only four days ago. I wonder if this situation, which has been created in the past 14 years, will be fixed in 14 months. But the day I joined as the BSEC chairman, I came with the challenge of freeing the capital market from this situation. I’m looking for solutions one by one in continuous meetings.”
Regarding floor prices and circuit breakers, the BSEC chairman said, “We will check all the border lines in the market. We will try to find out if they are friendly to the market. Then we can make a decision about it.”
Maqsood said, “I came to BSEC with a mission. I will complete it. If I can't, then I don't have to stay at the stock market regulator.”
In response to a question about the mutual fund sector, Commissioner Tariquzzaman said that the law is equal for all. “We are committed to implementing it. From now on, there will be no more corruption in the stock market. Irregularities will not continue.”
