The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has fined Shah Alam Sarwar, former Managing Director (MD) of IFIC Bank PLC, Tk 5 crore for violating securities laws and regulations in connection with the issuance of the “IFIC Guaranteed Sherpur Township Green Zero Coupon Bond.”

The decision was made at BSEC’s 980th commission meeting held on Tuesday (November 4), chaired by BSEC Chairman Khandaker Rashed Maksud.

According to a press release issued by the BSEC, the Tk 1,500 crore face value and Tk 1,000 crore issue value bond—titled “IFIC Guaranteed Sherpur Township Green Zero Coupon Bond”—was guaranteed by IFIC Bank, though the bond was actually issued by Sherpur Township Ltd (STL), a real estate company.

In various advertisements, the bond was promoted under the name “IFIC Amar Bond”, which misled investors into believing it was IFIC Bank’s own bond, whereas the bank was merely a guarantor.

BSEC’s investigation found that such misleading promotions encouraged investors to invest under false impressions, constituting a clear violation of securities laws and regulations. For this misconduct, the commission decided to impose a Tk 5 crore penalty on former MD Shah Alam Sarwar.

Earlier, at its 965th meeting on July 30, the BSEC had taken action against other individuals involved in the same bond issuance irregularities.

In that meeting, Salman Fazlur Rahman, the bank’s former chairman, was fined Tk 100 crore and banned for life from the stock market. Additionally, Ahmed Sayan Fazlur Rahman, son of then Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman, was fined Tk 50 crore and also declared permanently unwelcome in the stock market.