Participants at a webinar on Friday stressed the need for ensuring IT-based market operations and coordination among the regulatory bodies to keep pace with the markets of developed countries and to keep the market unaffected during any kind of pandemics.

Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC) arranged the webinar titled 'Looking Forward to Uncover Practical and Legally Robust Solution: A Movement Towards Virtual Meeting and Reporting'.

Chairman of the securities regulator Prof. Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam attended the webinar as the chief guest while chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) Ali Reza Iftekhar and managing director of the premier bourse Kazi Sanaul Hoq, among others, were present at programme.

"We have moved towards the IT-based operations of the capital market by connecting all the listed companies, operators and investors to ensure satisfactory participation from home and abroad," said Prof. Shibli, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

He said the securities regulator was looking for quality persons who would facilitate implementation of a totally IT-based platform for the capital market.

"It is a surprising matter that a significant number of investors have not yet come under the service of mobile app to conduct trading of the listed securities," the BSEC chairman told the webinar, moderated by BAPLC vice president Riad Mahmud.

He also laid importance on web-based submission of all kinds of reports prepared by the listed companies and market operators.

"We are trying to attract the foreign investors to local bonds," he said, adding that Sadharan Bima Corporation will be engaged to facilitate the issuance of the bonds.

While speaking on the equity market, the BSEC chairman said the floor price of the listed securities will be withdrawn soon considering the better situation.

ABB chairman Ali Reza Iftekhar said the banks were facing two challenges such as reason and results. "The governance of the banks is a reason whose result is the increased amount of non-performing loans (NPLs)," Iftekhar said.

He said sometimes they face problems in executing some decisions as unidentical directives are issued on a same matter by different regulators.

"The BSEC's provision of appointing a certain number of independent directors differs with the directive of the central bank," Mr. Iftekhar said.

He said the banks sometimes get 'negative' audit report simply because of conflict of interest among the regulatory authorities.

In this regard, the BSEC chairman said they have formed focal points who will work with the revenue board and the central bank to address the conflict of interest.

The managing director of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Kazi Sanaul Hoq has laid importance on holding virtual meetings and annual general meeting (AGM) to ensure more participation.

In his keynote speech, the BSEC executive director ATM Tariquzzaman focused on the advantage of virtual meeting and web-based submission of different reports such as annual and quarterly reports.

He said the advantages of virtual meetings include reduced cost operations and smooth voting by stakeholders and investors.Report:Dhaka Tribune