The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has sent 17 officials into compulsory retirement and imposed demotion as a disciplinary measure on five others.

Those sent into compulsory retirement include Executive Director Rezaul Karim; Directors Abul Hasan and Mohammad Fakhrul Islam Majumder; Additional Directors Nazrul Islam and Mollah Md. Miraj Us Sunnah; Joint Director Rashedul Alam; Deputy Directors Md. Nannu Bhuiyan, Kazi Md. Al-Islam, Shahidul Islam, Bani Yamin Khan and Towhid Hasan; Assistant Directors Aminul Haque Khan, Abdul Baten and Sajjad Hossain; and Personal Officers Abu Yusuf, Kawsar Pasha Brishti and Samir Ghosh.

Meanwhile, Assistant Directors Johnny Hossain, Raihan Kabir, Tarikul Islam and Maksud Mila, along with Librarian Selim Reza Bappy, have been punished with demotion.

Earlier this year, BSEC also sent Director Abu Raihan Md. Mohtashin Billah into compulsory retirement.

One of the officials facing compulsory retirement, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of the reasons behind BSEC’s decision. He claimed that he had committed no offence warranting such punishment and said he would take legal action against the commission’s decision.

The latest disciplinary action comes amid growing tensions within the securities regulator. Earlier decisions to send two officials into compulsory retirement had triggered strong resentment among BSEC employees, at one point leading to an undesirable situation in which officials and employees became involved in a standoff with the chairman and commissioners.

The latest move is therefore expected to draw further attention within the commission and among stakeholders in the country’s capital market.