Setting up of a special tribunal for quick disposal of stock market related cases is finally going to take off as the finance ministry on Thursday approved the structure and modus operandi of the tribunal.
Under the structure, a special tribunal will have two members – one district judge and another sessions judge and a tribunal with one judge.
The approval was given at a meeting at the finance ministry that earlier requested the law ministry to scrutinise the draft structure of the tribunal proposed by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
The meeting also approved the salary structure of judges of the special tribunal, ranging from Tk36,000 to Tk39,000, appointment of official staff and purchasing official instruments.
“This is a good move. But it should have been taken earlier to ensure transparency and accountability in the market,” said Mahmood Osman Imam, professor of finance at the Dhaka University.
The stock market analyst said investors have longed for the tribunal. “However, it is better late than never.”
He said quick disposal of litigation related to the stock market might bring confidence among the investors.
More than 400 cases were filed against companies, investors and manipulators with courts between 1996 and January this year, according to the BSEC.
The market collapse in 1996 and later in late 2010 had prompted the government to set up a special tribunal to handle stock market-related cases.
After more than a decade, the government finalised the structure and operation method of a special tribunal ahead of general election due early next year.
The move has also been taken as part of the conditions attached to the recent Asian Development Bank’s US$300m support as soft-term credits for the overall development of the country’s capital market.
Due to long-pending cases, the listed companies sometimes failed to declare dividends or make corporate disclosures.
Whenever the securities regulator imposed fines on any listed company or investor or manipulator, they go to the High Court challenging the regulator’s order or punishment, ignoring its efficacy.
In November last year, the parliament amended the Securities and Exchange
Ordinance 1969 to empower the government to set up special tribunals to try such cases.
“In absence of a special tribunal for the stock market, cases remained pending for years. But after setting up of a special tribunal, the pending cases will be disposed off,” said a BSEC official.
If anybody is not satisfied with the verdict of the tribunal, he or she would have the choice to appeal with the Supreme Court, he said.