The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has sought assistance from the World Bank (WB) to enhance the surveillance systems of the capital market to meet international standards.
The commission’s Chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood shared the development while addressing a press conference after a meeting with a WB delegation at the BSEC office in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Sunday afternoon.
BSEC Commissioners Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury, Prof Farzana Lalarukh and Mohammad Ali Akbar were also present at the briefing.
The meeting between both parties lasted about an hour and a half. Neeraj Verma, Practice Manager for Long-Term Finance at the World Bank Group, led the WB delegation that included Senior Financial Sector Specialist Salt Bango, Financial Sector Consultant (virtually) Sadia Afrin, Financial Sector Specialist Sophie Dong, and Solaiman, Senior Operations Officer at International Finance Corporation.
Maqsood said they discussed specific areas for technical assistance from the WB, focusing on improving their surveillance team. He emphasised discussions on surveillance enhancement and governance.
At the press conference, Commissioner Farzana mentioned that they stressed the importance of surveillance and governance. She noted that they are currently working with a very weak surveillance system, which is based on software installed in 2012.
She highlighted the urgent need to update this system, which has not been improved since its installation. They are striving to elevate it to global standards and have requested technical and other support from the World Bank.
They aim to initiate governance improvements internally, ensuring accountability as a priority, she added.
