Closure of DSE puts mkt's reputation at stake

Aberdeen Standard Investments director says

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FE DESK | Published: April 12, 2020 21:40:16

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An international institutional investor has demanded resumption of trading on Bangladesh's stock market.
"The indefinite closure of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Bangladesh SEC's circular in March that prevents stock prices falling below their five day average, have wrought significant damage to your stock market's reputation among international institutional investors," Mark Gordon-James, Investment Director, Aberdeen Standard Investments said in a statement issued on Sunday.
"Every other stock market in the world (other than Colombo Stock Exchange) remains open at this time, since the functioning of the capital markets is considered an essential service. Meanwhile, there is almost no precedent in recent times for the BSEC's circular imposing a floor on the stock market; the result will be vastly constrained trading once the exchange reopens."
International investors have continuous liquidity needs and depend on the reliability and functionality of underlying markets in order to meet those needs. Serious repercussions are already in train for Bangladesh: there have been suspensions of some mutual funds outside of Bangladesh, which until now have invested enthusiastically in your country, and questions are being asked by specialists in operational risk control as to whether the DSE should be rendered permanently non-investible for foreign funds.
"If it is the SEC's intention to ruin Bangladesh as an investment destination for foreign funds, they are doing a fine job of it. If the authorities think their actions will not have a negative long term impact on your capital market, they should think again," the statement added.