Special correspondent
The incident at the stock market regulator has severely tarnished the image of Bangladesh at home and abroad, and this is the first time such a shameful incident has happened in any regulatory agency in the world, said Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood.
He said this at a meeting with all the officers and employees of the commission held on Monday. The meeting was held at BSEC Bhaban in Agargaon in the capital.
This information was given in a press release signed by BSEC Director and Spokesperson Md. Abul Kalam.
Meanwhile, its Executive Director, Md Mahbubul Alam, has resigned. On Monday, he submitted a resignation letter to the BSEC Chairman.
Mahbubul Alam has been working at BSEC for more than 25 years. However, on Wednesday (March 5), various allegations were made against him and several officials and employees, including blocking the BSEC chairman and three commissioners.
Given this, a case was filed against him and 16 officials and employees on Thursday (March 6) night. However, Mahbubul Alam surrendered to the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Sunday and took bail.
Besides, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has conducted a raid again at the BSEC office. ACC sources said that following allegations of corruption and irregularities, the watchdog started the drive at BSEC's surveillance and monitoring department on Monday.
The drive began at the Agargaon Securities Commission building around 11:30 am. A four-member team led by two assistant directors is conducting this operation.
Earlier, the ACC conducted a raid on BSEC on March 2. The commission will soon submit a full report on the irregularities found during the raid.
On Sunday, Dhaka Stock Exchange Chairman Mominul Islam met the BSEC Chairman. Representatives of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, CDBL, CCBL, BMBA, and asset managers were also with him.
Mominul Islam later told reporters, "To restore investor confidence in the capital market, we believe that a detailed investigation into the irregularities and corruption that have occurred in the past years and bringing the relevant individuals to justice is very important. We, the market stakeholders, are expressing solidarity with the ongoing investigation."
"If any institution or individual is aggrieved, they can appeal to the government. If they want, they can take legal recourse. But the way the movement was being carried out to realize their demands through chaos is in no way desirable."
On Wednesday, the chairman and commissioners of BSEC were confined by the commission's employees in protest against the forced retirement of Executive Director Saifur Rahman.
To tackle the situation, additional law enforcers, including the army, were deployed in front of the BSEC building.
On Thursday night, a case pressing criminal charges was filed against 16 protesting officials.
By Saturday, the rare and highly damaging bureaucratic clash had drawn condemnation from the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association (BASA), which said that demands should be made with discipline.