DSE gets four new independent directors

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has approved the inclusion of four independent directors in the new board of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The independent directors are: Abdullah Al Mahmud, a professor of the banking and insurance department at Dhaka University, Hafiz Md Hasan Babu, dean of the faculty of engineering and technology of the same university, Md Afzal Hossain, a former chairman of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, and Rubaba Dowla, country managing director for Oracle in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

The four were chosen on the basis of their expertise, experience and integrity, and will serve as independent voices on the board, said the BSEC in its official letter sent to the managing director of the Dhaka bourse.

Earlier, the DSE had sent a list of some 18 people to the regulator for the post of the independent directors of the bourse.

According to rules, the DSE's board comprises 13 directors -- seven of them independent directors, five shareholder directors including a strategic partner, and one managing director.

Six positions of the independent directors fell vacant recently due to the end of their tenure.