The securities regulator has allowed the chiefs of merchant banks to conduct sell-buy of the shares of listed companies.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) took the decision on Thursday at a meeting held at the BSEC office.
As per the BSEC's decision, the CEOs or managing directors of the merchant banks now have no bar to conduct sell-buy of the shares of listed companies.
But they will not be allowed to purchase the shares of the companies whose IPOs (initial public offering) were managed by them.
Asked, Mohammad Saifur Rahman, a BSEC executive director, said the regulator has taken the decision to remove disparity among the chiefs of brokerage firms and merchant banks.
He said the scope of conducting share business by the chiefs of merchant banks remained suspended for a long time, whereas the chiefs of the brokerage firms are getting such facility.
"That's why, the BSEC has restored the scope for the CEOs or managing directors of merchant banks," said Mr. Rahman.
The securities regulator has restored the scope of share business by the chiefs of merchant banks by bringing some changes in the Securities and Exchange Commission (Merchant Banker and Portfolio Manager) Rules, 1996.
At the meeting, the securities regulator also imposed a penalty worth Tk 5.0 million on a director of Al-Haj Textile Mills for selling shares without prior declaration.
At Thursday's meeting, the securities regulator withdrew its previous decision for conducting the transaction of the shares of Al-Haj Textile Mills in the spot market.
As a result, Al-Haj Textile Mills now has no bar to conduct transactions in the main board of the stock exchanges.
The BSEC has imposed the penalty worth Tk 5.0 million on Shamsul Huda, a director of the Al-Haj Textile Mills, for selling a substantial amount of shares without mandatory prior declaration.
The securities regulator has also imposed a penalty worth Tk 0.5 million on ANF Management Company, a DSE TREC holder, as it facilitated Shamsul Huda to sell shares without declaration.
Shamsul Huda is also the managing director of the ANF Management Company.
