— Khondoker Rashed Maqsood chairman, BSEC Transparency and accountability will be ensured in the stock market and those who have been involved in irregularities in the past will be punished based on probe findings, said the new chief of the securities regulator.
"We will thoroughly investigate the irregularities, corruption, and wrongdoings that occurred in the past 15 years," said Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, the newly-appointed chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), on Sunday.
Mr Maqsood, a former banker, joined as the BSEC chief last Monday for a four-year term after Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam resigned from the post following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
The BSEC will also investigate the past corrupt practices of the commission itself and those of market intermediaries, he said.
"Our first priority is to bring back good governance in the market," said the BSEC chief at a press briefing, while unveiling a roadmap for development of the stock market.
He said the market moved backwards in the past 15 years due to widespread irregularities and lack of good governance.
"We will investigate all the complaints. If anyone from the securities regulator is involved in malpractices, they should also be punished.
"We need to create a system so that manipulators can't ruin the market the way they did."
The BSEC chief also said they had divided tasks in two segments -- core and non-core matters.
In the core area, the regulator will give emphasis on three main elements.
The first is to bring back transparency.
The BSEC chief said that to bring back transparency and accountability in the market they would introduce reforms within the organisation.
"The focus will be on monitoring. We will scrutinize the method of monitoring, the systems we use, will see who has access to those systems and whether they are subject to misuse.
"I have come here with a mission. There should be an immediate, in-depth review of the irregularities that occurred in the stock market in the last 15 years."
The second task is to establish governance.
"This is the life of the market. Nothing is sustainable without governance."
The BSEC will also bring changes to the roles played by market intermediaries.
"We will also work hard to ensure governance in listed companies and look into the role of independent directors."
The third task will be to improve the market's depth.
"This is long-term work. "We will complete the first two tasks immediately.
"We need to give priority to restoring investor confidence in the market, not artificially or for a temporary basis. It should be brought about through fundamental changes."
The BSEC chairman said stock market regulations would be implemented from now on.
He said the regulator would find out legal loopholes. If the loopholes are not eliminated, they will leave scope for irregularities in the future.
In response to a question, the BSEC head said the new commission would not take any political issue into consideration.
Meanwhile, the chairman changed the duties of commissioners and executive directors (EDs) of the commission on Thursday three days after joining office.
The BSEC formed a four-member investigation committee last week to look into the operations of the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange.
The BSEC also ordered freezing of the beneficiary owner's accounts of 11 individuals, including former BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat-Ul Islam, his son Zuhayer Sarar Islam, and nine others connected to the stock market.
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