Restructure DSE board: brokers’ association

The DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh (DBA), a platform of the brokers of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), has urged the government to restructure the board of the premier bourse.

The DSE's board had 15 directors. Seven of the independent directors, including its chairman, resigned after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 this year.

Today, the brokers' association recommended restructuring the DSE board with the inclusion of seven new independent directors.

The association made the call today through a letter sent to Salehuddin Ahmed, finance adviser to the interim government.

In the last 15 years, the government had appointed several independent directors who were inexperienced and lacked stock market know-how, but got appointed because of having political connections, the letter read.

The stock market came to the verge of collapse due to their appointments, the association said.

So, the DBA suggested appointing independent directors from the list of Bangladesh Bank deputy governors, policy members of the income tax department of the National Board of Revenue, senior advocates from Supreme Court Bar Association and retired secretaries.

The independent directors can also be chosen from the teachers of the Institute of Business Administration, women entrepreneurs, officials from multinational companies with 20 years of experience and army officers equivalent to the brigadier ranks, according to the letter.

The presidents of trade bodies, such as the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, can also be an independent director of the DSE, the letter said.