“We want to transform the capital market of Bangladesh from a frontier market dependent on retail investors to a credible, transparent and institutional investment dependent emerging market. Which will be able to collect long-term domestic and international capital for the economic growth of the country.
The newly appointed Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Masood Khan said all this in a press conference at BSEC Bhavan after joining Agargaon in the capital on Thursday (June 4). At that time, Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Investment and Stock Market Affairs Tanveer Gani, Finance Ministry's Financial Institutions Division Secretary Najma Mubarek and new commissioners of BSEC were present.
Masood Khan said, “Modern capital markets cannot be managed efficiently through paper-based processes and manual workflows. Hence digitization will be one of the main pillars of our reform programme. We want to bring the entire capital market ecosystem under digital transformation step by step. This will include reporting, company disclosure, licensing, approval, market surveillance, law enforcement and investor services.''
He said, “IPO application, rights issue, bond and sukuk application, licensing process and various filings will be gradually migrated to a fully digital platform. We want investors and companies to be able to interact with the Commission electronically, efficiently and with full transparency. Our goal is to build a technology-driven organization that is faster, more transparent, more efficient and more accessible to stakeholders.”
Masood Khan said, “In the past years, our capital market has gone through many periods of growth and optimism. But it also faces challenges that have undermined investor confidence, discouraged good-quality companies from entering the market, reduced foreign investor participation, and limited the capital market's contribution to the broader economy. Many investors have suffered losses. Many good companies have decided to stay out of the capital market. Foreign investors who once considered Bangladesh as a potential investment destination are now more cautious. The mutual fund industry, which was supposed to be one of the strongest pillars of our capital market, has also failed to gain investor confidence.''
The BSEC chairman clarified that the Commission's intention was never to regulate prices or prevent normal market fluctuations; Rather ensuring fair pricing and equal access to information. All types of irregularities including insider trading, circular trading, wash trade, pump-and-dump, front running will be identified quickly and strict laws will be implemented. If necessary, strict measures including suspension of transactions will be taken to protect investor protection and market integrity.
In terms of policies, the chairman said a smarter, policy-based and risk-based regulatory framework. Existing regulations will be re-evaluated to reduce unnecessary reporting, approval and compliance burdens while keeping investor protection intact. He also said that the initiative to reform the quarterly and interim financial reporting structure in line with international best practices.
At the same time, proactive initiatives will be taken to bring multinational, state-owned and large local corporate institutions to the stock market to increase the number of good quality listed companies, said BSEC chairman. Increasing tax and policy benefits for listed companies, strengthening good governance in institutional investors and mutual fund industry and attracting foreign investment are also important parts of the reform agenda, he said.
He says, trust is not built through speech; Trust comes through fairness, transparency, consistent policies and accountability. The reform journey of the new commission began with the aim of rebuilding that trust.
Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Investment and Stock Market Affairs Tanveer Ghani said it is essential to reduce the single dependence of the banking sector and transform the capital market into a regional powerhouse to grow Bangladesh's economy. As banks are limited in financing large projects, the capital market is the only hope.
Commissioner Nafiz Al Tariq said, “The capital market is in a transition phase. We look forward to working as a team, so that we can restore the confidence of our capital market.”
Commissioner Tanveer Habib Rahman said, “I hope to bring the best practices (or all good work rules) of London here. And I'm very happy to be here.''
Commissioner Nahid Mahtab said, “If everyone has goodwill or if we can all work together, then we will be able to develop the stock market.”
