BSEC steps up Shahjibazar probe

The securities regulator Sunday formed a two-member body for the second time to probe into 'unusual' price hike of Shahjibazar Power Company Limited (SPCL), officials said.  
"The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has observed unusual price increase in shares of the SPCL on the stock exchanges. The commission is of the opinion that it is necessary, in the public interest, to cause an inquiry in this regard," the securities regulator said in an order.
As per the order, the probe body comprising BSEC director Mohammad Rezaul Karim and BSEC Deputy Director Mohammad Shamsur Rahman will have to submit their report within 15 working days.
On August 3, 2014 the BSEC formed a probe body to look into why the company's price rocketed in an unusual manner.
The SPCL went public with an offer price of Tk 25, including a premium of Tk 25 for each Tk 10 share.
The SPCL's debut trading started on July 15 last and the company's market price went by 858.80 per cent or Tk 214.70 to close at Tk 239.70 as on Sunday (yesterday), despite the power group's share trading remained suspended for about seven weeks.
The regulator recently slapped fines worth Tk 55 lakh on the SPCL's five directors and managing director on charge of providing fabricated financial statements.
The BSEC, in a statement, said that the SPCL overstated its earning per share (EPS) to Tk 2.54 in its quarterly report for the period ended by March, 2014.
As a result, the company's EPS was downgraded to Tk 1.48 following a special audit conducted as per the regulatory instruction.

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