Let stockmarket move freely

Musharraf M Hussain, CEO of Dhaka Stock Exchange; Fridtjof Rusten, chief financial officer of Grameenphone, and Syed Mahbubur Rahman, CEO of BRAC Bank, attend a workshop on capital market, organised by Grameenphone along with the bank, at BRAC Centre Inn in the capital yesterday where journalists from different print and electronic media took part. Photo: Grameenphone

The stockmarket should be free to move at its own speed, as it is linked with the indicators of economy and money market, said a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday.
Arif Khan said the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index lost almost 22 percent in a single day on Black Monday. But the market did not recover at a time then, it took time, Khan said.
The Bangladesh stockmarket will also recover slowly and the regulator cannot pull up the index, he said.
He spoke at a workshop on "Capital market: awareness and role of media" at BRAC Centre Inn in the capital.
Leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone in association with BRAC Bank organised the workshop to foster the knowledge base of financial journalists on capital market, financial statements and valuation models.
Around 40 journalists of different print and electronic media covering capital market took part in the workshop.
The stockmarket regulator is mandated to work for the investors' interest, to develop the stockmarket and to minimise investment risk, he said.
He said the SEC is working to list the companies, who issued placement shares at high prices, with fair prices in bourses.
To be listed with stock exchanges, companies in Bangladesh show high earnings per share, as the quality of audit work is very poor in the country, he said.
“We have set standard criteria, compare to foreign rules and regulations, for auditing the financial statements of companies,” he said.
The regulator is working to develop corporate governance and equity research guidelines to ensure transparency and accountability in the market, he added.
Moazzem Hossain, editor of national daily Financial Express, said financial journalism depends on the depth of the market.
Journalists should focus more on how the directives of the SEC could be enforced, said Hossain.
Capital market journalists have played the role of a watchdog for the development of stockmarket, said Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, managing director and chief executive officer of BRAC EPL.
The stockmarket broker has research teams to help local and international investors, said Pasha.
Musharraf M Hussain, chief executive officer of Dhaka Stock Exchange, and Fridtjof Rusten, chief financial officer of Grameenphone, were two of the panel discussants in the event.
Shawkat Hossain Masum, news editor of Bengali daily Prothom Alo, moderated the session while Syed Mahbubur Rahman, chief executive officer of BRAC Bank, also spoke.