Policy for private placement of shares stressed

A policy should be framed immediately to make private placement of shares transparent, a former president of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) said yesterday.
There are no appropriate rules and regulations for private placement of shares, especially by non-listed companies, MKM Mohiuddin said. "What's happening currently in the name of private placement business should go."
"Placement of shares to private investors should be brought under a transparent policy," he said at the formal launch of the CSE's Dhaka office.
The port city bourse had shifted its Dhaka bureau to its own premises at Eunoos Trade Centre in Dilkusha Commercial Area, Motijheel, from the city's Karwan Bazar area a couple of months back.
Mohiuddin made the comment as the stockmarket regulator unearthed irregularities in private placement recently.
Rapid Action Battalion with the help of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 15 arrested two men for their alleged link with illegal trade involving private placement of shares in the capital market.
The SEC on July 19 formed a committee headed by the Commission's Executive Director ATM Tariquzzaman to detect any irregularities in the private placement business.
The stockmarket regulator asked the three-member probe body to submit its report by August this year.
Private placement is a way of raising funds from chosen or selected private investors without an initial public offering.
The new office of the CSE is a modern outfit that will provide better capital market services.
CSE President Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed inaugurated the new office at the function, also attended by former presidents of the port city bourse, exchange directors and officials, merchant bankers and stockbrokers.
Officials said the CSE bought over 15,000 square feet of floor space on the 15th floor of Eunoos Trade Centre at a cost of around Tk 6,500 per sft.
Of the total space, the CSE is now using 5,000 square feet, while the rest will be rented out to CSE members.