The government is set to extend on contract the tenures of chairman and four members of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) for another term.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently approved the proposal forwarded by the Banking and Financial Institutions Division under Finance Ministry, official sources said.
The tenure of the officials will be extended up to four years from the date of expiry of their respective contracts in line with the BSEC’s new rules amended last year. Before the amendment, the tenure was for three years.
The tenure of the incumbent BSEC officials, who were appointed after share-market debacle in late 2010, will expire between May and July this year.
The government claimed performance of the BSEC officials is so far satisfactory as the market remained stable, but market players say otherwise.
At present, the market is still going through volatility with low volume of trade, reflecting that investor is yet to recover confidence lost in the market debacle, they said.
Public Administration Ministry could issue an order regarding the extension of the officials any time this week, sources said.
As per the Prime Minister’s proposal, tenures of the BSEC chairman Prof M Khairul Hossain, commissioners M Helaluddin Nizami and Arif Khan will be extended for four years after expiry of their respective contracts.
Tenure of commissioners M A Salam Sikdar will be extended by two years and six months and Amjad Hossain by three years and 11 months after expiry of their respective contracts.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith commented: “The performance of BSEC Chairman Prof M Khairul Hossain and the four members was good as we saw the country’s two bourses remain more or less stable in their time.”
“I want to extend their tenure by another term as the chairman and members’ hard work and directives made the stock markets stable for a time,” said Finance Minister in the proposal to the PM.
The whole BSEC management will be serving the extended period, he said. The government’s new administrative division would clear matters related to their salaries and allowances.
