Dhaka bourse calls board meeting tomorrow

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has scheduled a board meeting tomorrow, in which the newly appointed seven independent directors will take part, according to DSE officials.

The last board meeting was held on 1 August, but subsequent meetings were delayed due to disruptions surrounding the appointment of new independent directors, following the resignation of the previous ones after the change in government, according to officials.

Shakil Rizvi, a shareholder director of the DSE, told The Business Standard that the country's premier bourse operated without a functioning board for over a month, preventing the DSE from making any policy decisions.

"Now, we have seven independent directors with a clean slate. Therefore, the DSE has scheduled a board meeting for 3pm on Thursday, during which the board will elect a new chairman," he added.

Under the demutualisation scheme, the DSE operates with a 13-member board, consisting of seven independent directors and six other members. The latter group includes four shareholder representatives, one representative from the strategic partner, and the managing director.

Earlier, in August, after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, all seven independent directors of the DSE resigned following the verbal order from the securities regulator.

On 1 September, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) appointed Brigadier General Md Mafizul Islam Rashed, former DSE MD KAM Majedur Rahman, Professor Major General (retd) Mohammad Quamruzzaman, Financial Institutions Division Additional Secretary Nahid Hossain, DU professor of economics Mohammed Helal Uddin, former general manager of Metlife Bangladesh Syed Hammadul Karim, and Bangladesh Data Center and Disaster Recovery Site Limited CEO Mohammed Ishaque Miah.

However, DSE members have raised concerns about the appointments of Majedur Rahman and Helal Uddin, arguing that these appointments violate the board and administration regulations as they were involved in brokerage firms.

Then the BSEC changed them and appointed AF Nesaruddin and Syeda Zakerin Bakht Nasir, but it also violated the regulations.

After that, the BSEC appointed IPDC Finance's Ex-MD Mominul Islam and FINS Alliance's CEO and Chief Consultant Shahnaz Sultana.

A senior official at the DSE said one of the BSEC-appointed independent directors, Mominul Islam, was found to have negative CIB (Credit Information Bureau) clearance from the Bangladesh Bank.

Mominul said there was a misunderstanding regarding him being listed as a loan defaulter by the central bank. 

"The central bank actually didn't identify me as a defaulter, rather it is a company linked to me that has been identified as the defaulter," he explained.

Mominul mentioned that the company is Confidence Salt Limited. "I was on the company's board as the managing director of IPDC Finance, representing the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), since Confidence Salt had received funding from the Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) managed by ICB."

Mominul further said he has completed his tenure at IPDC Finance and has not been the managing director since January this year. 

I have since sent a letter to the central bank on 30 September, requesting an update on my status in the CIB report," he added.

Shakil Rizvi stated that the central bank had sent the CIB report without updated information about him. Later, the Bangladesh Bank revised the report which mentioned that Mominul Islam has no connection to any defaulting companies.