Securities and Exchange Commission Bangladesh
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established on June 8, 1993 under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act 1993 (Act 15 of 1993) as a capital market regulator with a view to ensuring proper issuance of securities, protection of the interest of investors in securities, development of the capital and securities markets, and regulation of the capital and securities markets in Bangladesh.
The Commission consists of a chairman and four full time members who are employed by the government for a period of three years renewable for another similar term. The services of the chairman and members of the Commission are also determined by the government. The Chairman is the chief executive officer of the Commission.
The country’s capital market witnessed a remarkable turn-around during the fiscal year 2008-2009. There were unmistakable signs of the resurgence of investor’s confidence which suffered a major jolt in the wake of the catastrophic crash of the stock market in 1996. Dhaka Stock Exchange’s (DSE) general index which was introduced on 27th November 2001 with a base of 818 points hardly moved in the following two years with the index increasing by merely five points to reach 823 on 30th June 2003. A significantly higher level was attained during the following year with the index rising to 1319 as of 30 June 2004. Parallely, Chittagong Stock Exchange’s index rose from 1841 as of 30th June 2003 to 2329 as of 30th June 2004. The momentum of growth persisted through the subsequent months. Market capitalization at DSE increased from Taka 69 billion on of 30th June 2003 to Taka 142 billion as of 30th June 2004.
The above developments in the capital market were fostered by several macroeconomic measures. The budget for 2008-2009 provided that a rebate of 10 percent of the income tax would