Stock scam cases and late legal exercise

The country's stock market is now in a moribund state. With the daily transactions hitting rock bottom for a variety of reasons, potential investors take little interest in stock-related activities these days. In such a situation, the securities regulator has reportedly initiated a move to revive 17 cases instituted against some individuals and firms for their alleged involvement in the two major stock-market scams---one in 1996 and another in 2010. However, most cases are linked to the 1996 scam that led to the collapse of the market and the pauperization of millions of small investors. The scam of 2010 was not as devastating as that of 1996.
After long 27 years, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has reportedly asked its lawyers to take necessary measures for holding hearings of the cases that are pending before both lower and higher courts. Allegations have it that masterminds of the 1996 scam using their strong political influence have escaped the legal net. Some of them even played a part in the 2010 scam and lately managed a hefty sum pushing up the market artificially.
Thus, cases that are now at different stages of trial are of no significance. By asking its lawyers to do what is needed to start the hearing of the pending cases, the BSEC has done the right job. The High Court had quashed three cases and stayed the trial of five. The appeal is pending against an acquittal in five cases. The BSEC in all those years did not make any attempt to pursue the cases. Why? Why has it decided to do it now? There must be a reason behind it. The BSEC needs to explain why it did not pursue the cases earlier and why it wants to revive those now.
There is no denying that the 1996 scam dealt a death blow to a fledgling stock market. Manipulators succeeded in luring millions of financially illiterate small investors to the market in the absence of an effective watchdog. The investors got their fingers burnt in an overheated market. When there were demands from different quarters to punish the culprits responsible for pulling the market down, the government had formed a probe body that submitted a voluminous report. However, regulatory actions did not match the probe body findings.
Rather reluctantly, the regulator filed cases against some individuals and firms accusing them of manipulating the market in 1996. However, people lost interest in the legal proceedings because of the long delays. They drew their conclusion of the ultimate legal outcome when a few masterminds had got their names dropped from the cases during the process of litigation.
Against such a backdrop, the move to retrieve the nearly three-decade-old cases from cold storage has caused a few eyebrows to raise. It is unlikely to create any positive impact on the present market situation. Nor will it help brighten the image of the securities regulator. The escape of a few key manipulators from the dragnet has marred that prospect. Yet there could be one or more innocent people who were accused of wrongdoing. If the court finds them not guilty, their plight might finally end.
The BSEC is likely to have filed a few cases against people for their alleged involvement in wrongful activities in the stock market in recent years. It should pursue those cases rather seriously. Being more familiar with these cases than the ones filed almost three decades back, the investors will be happy to see the expeditious disposal of the recent ones.

Zahidmar10@gmail.coms