Listing of SOEs to pick up speed

A high-stake meeting on Monday decided to speed up the process of listing of state-owned enterprises to help revive the country's ailing capital market.
Also, an internal audit department will be established under the securities regulator to look into the financials and operations of the listed companies. On the other hand, steps will be taken to ensure 'fair' prices of initial public offerings.
"We have no option other than thinking about the capital market," finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said.
"The confidence of the masses in the capital market will be strengthened by ensuring good governance," he added.
He told reporters after a meeting, where governor of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Fazle Kabir, chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) professor M Khairul Hossain, chairman of the Insurance Development Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Md Shafiqur Rahman Patwari and chairman of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) CQK Mustak Ahmed, among others, were present. The meeting was held at the NEC in the city.
Most of the stakeholders of the capital market attended the meeting, arranged by the bank and financial institutions division of the finance ministry following the sharp fall in share prices during the last three weeks.
During the period, the broad index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) lost over 300 points.
The finance minister told reporters they have taken on the challenge of restoring investors' confidence in the capital market by removing the 'hurdles' that constrain the market's growth.
"An internal audit department will be established in the SEC, which will look into the financial statements of the listed companies round the year," Mr Kamal said.
He said the process of listing state-owned enterprises and other private companies having good fundamentals would be intensified.
Responding to a question as to whether bureaucrats were creating obstacles to the listing of state firms with the capital market, the minister said time has come to accelerate the process of divesting the government entities.
"Let's not look back what happened in the past, now we have to look forward--how to accelerate the listing process of the SoEs," Mr Kamal said.
The minister said the government would ensure good governance in the country's capital market in such a manner so that nobody can say it will do injustice to him or her.
"We will ensure fair justice for everybody under the existing legal framework. The government wants to make the capital market as vibrant as the country's economy," he added.
When his attention was drawn to the alleged graft investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission against the BSEC chairman and as to whether any action would be taken against him, the finance minister ducked the question.
"I've no information about it," he said.
In the meeting, former chairman of the SEC Dr. AB Mirza Azizul Islam said the market suffers because of non-coordination between the regulators of the capital market and the financial sector.
"Many companies go public showing rosy picture of their financial statements. But after a few days of listing, the companies' prices do not sustain as their IPO prices are inconsistent with the fundamentals," Mr. Islam told the meeting.
He laid emphasis on the active role of the Financial Reporting Council.
The NBR chairman told the meeting that his agency would provide more tax facility, if required, to make the market vibrant.
"The current slump of the capital market cannot go on. We will also provide more facilities for foreign companies so that none of them wind up operations here," Mr. Bhuiyan told the newsmen.
Md. Rakibur Rahman, a former president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, said all issues, which are affecting the capital market, were discussed in the meeting.

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