B Mirror Report: The launch of Bangladesh’s long-awaited commodity exchange has been delayed due to a lack of coordination with the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and frequent policy changes, according to Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Managing Director Saifur Rahman Majumdar.
Speaking at a workshop titled “Commodity Exchange: Prospects, Structure and Future” organized by the Capital Market Journalists Forum (CMJF) in collaboration with CSE on Sunday, Majumdar said the exchange could have been launched one and a half to two years ago based on CSE’s level of preparedness.
“Changes in government and repeated policy shifts delayed the process,” he said.
The workshop was attended by BSEC Commissioner Farzana Lalarukh as chief guest and CSE Chairman AKM Habibur Rahman as special guest. CMJF President Monir Hossain chaired the event.
Majumdar said commodity exchanges and derivatives are globally recognized components of capital markets, and Bangladesh had initially planned to launch the platform in 2023. However, inadequate preparation and the novelty of the concept in the local market required extensive testing and awareness-building efforts.
He noted that Pakistan introduced commodity exchanges in 2005-06, while India launched such platforms even earlier. According to him, Bangladesh lagged behind mainly because of the need to increase awareness and build the necessary regulatory and technological framework.
“We had the capability to launch it much earlier, but coordination gaps with the regulatory body and other factors caused delays,” he said.
He also pointed out that more than 60 percent of the stock exchange’s technological capacity still depends on foreign providers. The technologies required for the commodity exchange also had to be imported, which added to the delay.
Under existing rules, separate brokers for the commodity market had to be created, further slowing implementation, he added.
Speaking at the event, CSE Chairman AKM Habibur Rahman said compliance-related policy issues also contributed to the delay in launching the commodity exchange.
“Our preparations are now at an advanced stage. We hope the commodity exchange can be launched within this year,” he said.
Habibur Rahman revealed that around Tk 100 crore has already been invested in the project, with additional expenditure still required before launch. He said CSE officials have received specialized training abroad and the necessary technology infrastructure is largely ready.
He clarified that the proposed commodity exchange would not initially function as a physical goods trading platform. Instead, it would operate as a futures contract settlement platform.
“In the first phase, we will start with cash settlement only. Physical delivery will not be introduced immediately, as it requires further preparation. That may come in the second phase,” he added.
