The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has fined 12 individuals and one company a total of Tk 128.2 million (about Tk 13 crore) for manipulating the share price of Sonali Paper and Board Mills Ltd, as well as for providing false information and committing signature forgery.

The BSEC’s Enforcement Department issued the order last month. The fined parties must deposit the penalty within 30 days, or legal action will be taken.

An investigation revealed that in December 2021, the share price of Sonali Paper on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) jumped abnormally—from Tk 544.70 to Tk 957.70 within just one month. This manipulation violated securities laws through abnormal trading activities.

As a result, Genex Infrastructure Ltd was fined Tk 25.5 million (2.55 crore). On similar charges, directors of Genex Infosys Ltd, Oracle Services Ltd, and several individuals were each fined Tk 10.3 million (1.03 crore), totaling Tk 82.4 million (8.24 crore).

In addition, M/S Tahsin Enterprise and Haji Ahmad Brothers Securities Ltd were fined for conducting major transactions without authorization, forging signatures, and concealing information.
Under this case:

• MD Rakib Md. Fakhrul was fined Tk 20 million (2 crore),
• Head of Trade and Operations Amal Krishna Saha was fined Tk 100,000,
• Finance and Accounts Manager Md. Nakibul Islam was fined Tk 100,000, and
• Chittagong Branch Manager Ejaz was fined Tk 100,000.

BSEC stated that monitoring and legal actions will continue to prevent such market manipulations in the future.