Staff Correspondent : The government has formed a four-member committee to strengthen the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the securities market regulator.

The panel will also work on the development of the local stock market, according to a circular issued by the Financial Institutions Division (FID) of the finance ministry on Monday.

Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, a special assistant with the status of a state minister to the chief adviser, will be the chairman of the committee, while Prof. M. Sadiqul Islam, a faculty member of the finance department at Dhaka University and an additional secretary of the insurance and capital market department of the FID, will also be included in the committee. Farzana Lalarukh, a commissioner of the BSEC, will serve as the member secretary of the committee.

According to the notification, the committee has been tasked with providing strategic advice to enhance the operational effectiveness of the BSEC.

It will also focus on formulating comprehensive development strategies to strengthen the capital market, with a particular emphasis on increasing the appeal of expatriate bonds.

The government formed the committee in response to the regulatory body's appeal to the FID to investigate the recent chaos at the BSEC on March 5, when BSEC officials confined its chairman and commissioners to press home several demands.

The committee will also recommend ways to strengthen the regulatory and monitoring activities of the stock market, attract investment, and stabilize the market.

Additionally, it will provide suggestions to increase liquidity in the market, improve corporate governance, and create a favorable environment for new companies to enter the stock market.