SEC fines directors of twin companies

The stock market regulator has fined 10 directors of two listed companies on charges of violating securities laws.
The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a Tk 1 lakh fine on four directors of Saleh Carpet Mills each for not submitting audited financial statements for the year to December 31, 2007 to the commission, Dhaka Stock Exchange said in a Web posting yesterday.
The Saleh Carpet directors who have been fined are Chairperson Dilara Begum, Managing Director Shamim Ara Begum and directors Rezaul Karim and Badrul Huq.
Earlier on September 10, the DSE suspended the trading of Saleh Carpet, a Z-category company, for a day on finding some irregularities in the company.
A DSE probe found that 90 percent of the company's machinery is out of order. The company has not been running any corporate office since 2003 and not submitting financial reports to the bourse or the capital market regulator since 2002.
Saleh Carpet owes Tk 300 crore to Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and Sonali Bank.
Saleh Carpet, which now runs with only 5 percent of its machinery in operation, sells its products only in Chittagong.
According to a DSE record, the company submitted its last-audited accounts for 2001, where it reported Tk 12.86 million in net losses, with earnings per share of Tk 2.10.
The SEC fined six directors of Rose Heaven Ball Pen Tk 1 lakh each for not handing the capital market regulator financial statements for the half-year to December 31, 2007.
The directors who are fined are Managing Director Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury and directors Nasima Ahmed, Maksuda Khatun, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Shafina Rahman Rupa and Md Mushfiqur Rahman Chowdhury.