Probe body report on stock market scam

The much-hyped report of the committee, formed in January this year to investigate the stock market collapse, has been submitted to the government. However, its content has not yet been made officially public. The chairman of the probe body has divulged to the media some of the findings and the onus of putting the entire contents of the report under the full glare of the public now lies with the government. But the information that has been made available to the press until now, to a large extent, corroborates what was in the air for the past few months. The probe body in its report observed that unscrupulous market operators have pocketed nearly Tk. 200 billion of general investors' money and a substantial part of this amount have also been moved out of the country. But such figures are still more of a guesstimate for it is difficult to ascertain the actual amount. The methods that the crooks used to cheat investors, as identified by the probe committee, are asset revaluation, change of face value, direct listing, book building, pre-placement, bonus share issue etc. These are very much in line with the public perception of the latest stock market crash. The probe body chief, who is known as a man of integrity having the courage to call a spade a spade, traced a link between a few politicians of both camps who masterminded the schemes to fleece the poor investors, employing a number of operators in the secondary market. The probe body's report has identified a few individual suspects by name. But it is quite specific, as the media reports indicate, about the role played by a few top officials of the capital market regulator -- the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) -- who were instrumental in making the schemes of the stock market crooks a success. However, blaming the SEC alone would be unfair since others concerned, despite having enough indications of market manipulation, did fail to take action in time. Notwithstanding the fact the probe body has mentioned in its report the names of a number of individuals as suspects-and certainly not yet accused -- who were involved in the recent stock market scam, the finance minister's suggestion not to disclose their names at this stage while making the report public, has given rise to some confusion. The government may not be willing to divulge the name of anyone, unless and until it is certain about his or her involvement. But such withholding of names of suspects who include one or two behind-the-scene players of the 1996 stock scam might trigger suspicion among the people that the government is not serious enough about bringing the market manipulators to justice. To remove such confusions, the government should disclose all the names and institutions suspected to be involved in the scam with an assurance that it would investigate further, before bringing them to book. That will assure all concerned about the government's clear stance on dealing fairly and firmly with those who had fleeched the ordinary investors in the capital market. There is no denying that the failure to punish those responsible for the 1996 scam has encouraged the repetition of similar felony, but on a much greater scale this time. Letting the crooks go off the hook again would be tantamount to giving them free rein. So, it is imperative for the government to identify the real culprits and punish them in accordance with the law of the land. At the same time, with due earnestness, the government should recast the SEC thoroughly since the development of the stock market depends largely on its performance. The probe body also has laid special emphasis on the SEC reorganization. The government must not make any further delay on this particular issue.