The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is set to take action against manipulators responsible for unusual price hikes of the shares of 17 companies.
The companies are Anwar Galvanizing, Makson Spinning, CVO Petrochemical, Anlima Yarn Dyeing, AFC Agro Biotech, Meghna Condensed Milk, Bangladesh Monospool Paper, New Line Clothing, Prime Life Insurance, One Bank, Sonali Paper, Mercantile Insurance, Global Insurance, Dhaka Insurance, Sonali Life Insurance, Takaful Islami Insurance, and Delta Life Insurance.
Sources at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) have confirmed the development.
A senior officer at the BSEC said that the share prices of these companies have been increased at an unusual rate by manipulation.
“The commission's investigation team found evidence that manipulators made crores of taka by trading these shares,” he also said.
Currently, the enforcement department of the commission is working to take action against the manipulators, he added.
Another official of the commission said on condition of anonymity that Abul Khair Hiru and his associates were involved in the share manipulation of most of these companies.
They have already been fined for manipulating the share prices of several companies.
Officials of some brokerage houses were also involved in the manipulation of shares of Anwar Galvanizing, Anlima Yarn, Meghna Condensed Milk, AFC Agro, CVO Petrochemical, and Makson Spinning along with insiders of the companies, he added.
According to BSEC sources, since mid-2021, the share price of CVO Petrochemical was raised 204% to Tk261 per share, Makson Spinning 440% to Tk34.6, Anwar Galvanizing 388% to Tk464, Monospool Paper 396% to Tk272, Anlima Yarn 61% to Tk49. 9, Sonali Paper 396% to Tk957, Meghna Condensed Milk 336% to Tk42, AFC Agro 153% to Tk37.8, and New Line Clothing 268% to Tk47.9 by manipulation.
But currently, the shares of these companies are trading at a much lower rate than the manipulated price.
As a result, common investors had to count a lot of losses.
Top officials at several brokerage firms said that BSEC has modern surveillance software, through which unusual transactions can be detected.
So there is an opportunity to take action as soon as possible in these cases of manipulation. And the sooner measures are taken, the better governance will increase in the stock market, they added.
A top official at a brokerage firm said the BSEC does not take action against most manipulators.
Sometimes, they take just the bare minimum action. Manipulations cannot be stopped this way. But neighbouring India takes strict action against the persons and organizations responsible for such incidents of manipulation, he added.
