he head of the securities regulator is awaiting the formation of the interim government to decide whether he should continue his job or resign from his post.
At the hour of power transition after the government led by Sheikh Hasina was toppled on Monday, chiefs of several government bodies have been forced to resign.
The chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Prof. Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam and Commissioner Dr. ATM Tariquzzaman told The FE that they would do as instructed by the interim government, which is expected to be sworn in Thursday night.
In the meantime, they are having to keep the functioning of the watchdog suspended.
“We are now unable to work without the permission of the interim government,” said Prof. Islam.
Meanwhile, other regulatory bodies, including the Bangladesh Bank (BB) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR), witnessed many high-up officials being forced to step down from their positions.
Sheikh Hasina resigned as head of the government and flew out of the country on August 5 amid a countrywide protest that began as a student movement for reforms to the hiring mechanism in government jobs but soon turned into an anti-discrimination public movement.
As the government was brought down, the law and order situation across the country deteriorated and many top officials of different regulatory bodies refrained from attending the office.
A group of aggrieved BB officials on Wednesday stormed into the central bank’s governor office and forced six top officials including four deputy governors to resign.
On the same day, a group of NBR officials staged a demonstration demanding the resignation of the top officials including the chairman.
It’s now expected that the chief of the interim government Prof. Muhammad Yunus and other advisors would take oath tomorrow evening.
The BSEC chairman said he and his commissioners would hand over responsibilities if the interim government did not accept them as part of the regulatory body.
Meanwhile, officials of the securities regulator held a meeting on Monday and raised demands for overhauling of the commission.
Mohammad Saifur Rahman, a BSEC executive director and president of the employees’ association, said the officials wanted to be free of any undue influence that tainted the reputation of the regulatory body.
The previous government appointed commissioners from outside the organisation, many of whom lacked knowledge about the capital market, he said, adding that their poor performance made the regulator’s role questionable.
“That’s why employees made a demand that experienced officials’ merit and labour be recognized and they get promoted to the positions of commissioner.”
The executive director is the highest position for BSEC executives, and the government appoints chairman and commissioners from other professionals, such as university teachers, bureaucrats and bankers.
The BSEC comprises one chairman and four commissioners. The incumbent BSEC chairman and two commissioners– Dr. Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dr. Rumana Islam– are teachers of Dhaka University.
In April, Prof. Islam and Commissioner Mr. Shamsuddin were reappointed for another four-year term.
Later in May, the government appointed Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury, former director general of Bangladesh Karmachari Kallyan Board, and ATM Tariquzzaman, managing director of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), as commissioners of the BSEC.
Earlier, Mr. Tariquzzaman was an executive director of the BSEC.
As the first ever female commissioner, Dr. Rumana Islam joined the BSEC in May 2022 for four years.
