The regulatory body Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has decided to inspect and scrutinize the overall activities of three merchant banks in the stock market. A three-member committee has been formed to examine whether there are any irregularities in the institutions during the inspection process. The formed inspection committee has been instructed to submit a report to the BSEC within the next 30 working days.

The names of the merchant banks are ICB Capital Management Limited, Janata Capital and Investment Limited and IIDFC Capital Limited.

It is learned that the inspection committee will examine the number of margin accounts of the merchant banks, the number of beneficial owners (BO) accounts including negative equity, why negative equity is increasing in merchant banks and who is responsible for it, the amount of negative equity, funds held against provisions or margin accounts, shortage of provisions and unauthorized transactions in margin accounts, among other issues.

A related order has been issued by the Market Intelligence and Investigation Division of BSEC recently, according to sources.

The order issued by BSEC has been sent to the managing directors or chief executive officers of the three brokerage houses.

The members of the inspection committee formed are – Additional Director of BSEC Mohammad Shamsur Rahman, Assistant Director Md. Matiur Rahman and Assistant Director Md. Amirul Islam.