Most of the persons involved in the country's capital-market scams go scot-free because of their influence on politics and economy, said the head of the body formed to investigate the 2010 scam, Khandkar Ibrahim Khaled.
A total of 17 cases were filed against the suspected share manipulations for triggering collapse of the share market in two phases in 1996 and in 2010.
"Except a few, none of the manipulators was punished," said Mr Khaled, a former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, while addressing a working session of the 19th biennial conference of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) Saturday.
"The government could not bring them to justice as most of them have influence on the government," he told the meet of economists.
Mr Ibrahim Khaled was presiding over the session on 'Financial Sector Development: Banking and Non-Banking' on the third and concluding day of the conference.
Earlier, Dr. Jamaluddin Ahmed FCA, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), presented a paper on 'Political Economy of Separating Conventional and Merchant Banking' wherein he discussed the economics of combining and separating conventional and investment banking.
He strongly suggested separation of the two to avoid the conflict of interests.
The expert in accounting also stressed the need for more coordination among financial and capital-market regulators, and strict monitoring and implementation of operational guidelines.
A fact-finding study on the 2010 stock-market scam and its impact on the economy and GDP came as a major suggestion from him.
Replying to queries, the chief of the probe body on stock-market scam said except for some disciplinary actions taken against a few, the accused were not even tried, let alone punished because of their influences.
"I think it is not Awami League or BNP... It is this section of people, who wield influence in politics and the economy, are really powerful," said Mr Ibrahim Khaled.
He also identified weaknesses of the regulatory body -- Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) -- behind the irregularities.
It even did not have any effective surveillance system to monitor the market. The regulatory body still lacks qualified chartered accountants to verify the authenticity of audit reports, he said.
A total of 10 papers on internet banking and its effect; impact of macroeconomic variables on stock-market returns; fraud-risk management in banks; performance and challenges of NRB banks; banks and regional development, growth trends of a first- generation private bank; changing role of central banks; banking sector: 10 years' achievement; and prospects of non-bank financial institutions and money markets were presented in the session.
Jamaluddin in another article evaluated the role of the central bank in different economic, financial and political systems, especially from its rigid control regime in 1972 to transition to market economy in recent days.
Despite the transition, Mr Jamal opined, the country's central bank would never be independent as it is owned and controlled by government.
Mihir Kumar Roy in his paper on 'Internet Banking and its Effect on Performance of Banks in Bangladesh' showed the customer perception on internet banking by identifying factors that influence performance of banks.
According to Roy, banks can expand more services such as foreign exchange and investment in this system.
While assessing the performance and challenges of the NRB banks in Bangladesh, author of one paper Bayazid Sarker said that the corporate governance of the banks is in a complex situation as most alternate directors are living abroad.
"If necessary," he said, "rules should be changed in a prudent way."
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