Rogue players will be driven out of market within 3-6 months

No vested quarter would be allowed to play any game with the stock market anymore, said Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), on Thursday.

“Our stance is against manipulation to protect investors' rights,” he said at a seminar styled ‘Role of capital market in keeping economy vibrant during Covid-19 pandemic’ organised to mark the inauguration of the online version of daily Banijjo Pratidin.

The recent steps taken by the commission to protect retail investors’ rights and regain their confidence have started to give out positive outcomes.

“We are working on approving initial public offerings (IPO) of good and established companies. We have already cancelled IPO proposals of some companies based on our observations and those of the stock exchanges themselves.”

The regulator is working to protect the interest of small-scale investors.

Banijjo Protidin Editor AKM Rashed Shahriar chaired the seminar, while BSEC executive director M Rezaul Karim, was the keynote speaker.

BSEC Commissioners Dr Sheikh Shamsuddin Ahmed, Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman, BD Finance Chairman and Anwar Group managing director Monowar Hossain, Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) President M Sayedur Rahman, Capital Market Journalist Forum (CMJF) President Hasan Imam Rubel, spoke, among others at the seminar. 

The speakers at the seminar stressed the need for playing a due role by the media to ensure transparency and stability of the capital market.

The market witnessed ups and downs based on demand and supply, Islam said.

“We are keeping watch so that any vested quarter could not come in the market and thus leave the small investors penniless. So, we hope that we will get a sustainable capital market within the next six months.”

The regulator has remained alert so that the associate organisations like the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) could play their due role.

“It is now just a matter of time before we get a stable and sustainable capital market. I hope you will get the feeling within three to six months that the big players no longer want to play here as they won't be able to do what they did before. We will give security to the investors.”

The capital market watchdog would welcome more IPOs through which the big businesses would be able to manage long-term financing. This would eventually benefit the IPO winners of the primary market.

The current BSEC board has allowed many IPOs, but there was no such negative impact. 

Rather, the businesses can gather their capital through IPOs and many employment opportunities are also being created.

Through this, the entrepreneurs are being benefited, the market is being benefitted, while the depth of the market is increasing.

“On the whole, we are foreseeing a win-win situation if we feel that we need to go a bit slow (regarding IPOs), or need some intervention, we will do that.”

Initially, the board worked on the secondary market, but now it is focusing on the primary market, he added.