Al Amin :
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is working for full-fledged automated capital markets to ensure good governance.
Talking to The New Nation, BSEC Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam recently said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed them to give priority to the establishment of good governance in the capital market.
To bring the good governance, automation and digitisation is necessary, he said adding the importance of digitisation was realised during the pandemic. The stock market trading was halted for around two months in 2020 when the government announced general leave to contain the Corona virus.
In future, mega projects like Padma Bridge, Metrorail or Karnafuli Tunnel may be listed in the capital market. This will make the capital market a big source of long-term finance, he said.
Asked about future plans for the capital market, the BSEC chairman said, “The capital market will play a vital role in all developments including industrialisation and infrastructure in the country.”
He further said, “Bonds, municipal bonds, and infrastructure bonds are very popular in other countries of the world. Green bonds and Blue-Bonds have also been added to the market.”
“Perpetual and subordinate bonds are available to strengthen the bank’s capital. Equity also helps companies to expand their business. Of these, we only deal with the equity base,” he said.
“Even, we could not help in large scale industrialisation. We are now trying to help good companies so that they can raise fund through issuing shares,” he said.
Along with it, we are strengthening the capital of banks and infrastructural development sector by allowing various types of bonds, he said.
“We are working on derivatives markets too so a huge number of skilled people is necessary. So, we are developing the human capital,” he said.
Asked how the bond market could develop in this year, he said Sukuk Bond has been successfully launched recently, which was a challenging task for them. Applications worth Tk 15,000 crore have been filed against Tk 3,000 crore Sukuk Bond. Regarding mutual funds, the BSEC chairman said that it could be a main tool to bring stability in the markets. Like in India, we are trying to encourage people towards mutual funds. For this, the Golden Jubilee Fund has been created. This fund has been designed in a way that will never diminish. In fact, it will increase day-by-day. So, the investors should invest in this fund and get good returns. About the capital market stabilisation fund, he said, “The first complaint we get after taking charge is that the investors do not get dividends and then, letters have been issued against all companies to find out where the dividends go.”
“In replying, the companies said people and exact addresses are not available for taking dividends. We are able to know that the dividends worth twenty two thousand crore taka are still in the hands of the companies. And we initiated to raise a fund through ICB’s custodial account with the money,” he said.
