Yunus instructs five-step reform for the capital market

He wants independent foreign experts to complete reforms within three months

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has issued five instructions to restore investors’ confidence in the capital market.

Yunus directed the Bangladesh Stock Exchange Commission (BSEC) to take steps so that multinational companies, in which the government has stakes, can get listed in the capital market by issuing an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

He issued five instructions in a meeting at State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday, the Chief Advisor’s Office (CAO) confirmed.

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed, Yunus’s Special Assistant Anisuzzaman Chowdhury and Principal Secretary Md Siraj Uddin Miah were present at the meeting, among others.

The other four instructions are:

>> The BSEC must announce special incentives to bring mega-private companies to the stock market.

>> Hire a set of independent foreign experts to conduct deep reforms in the stock market within three months.

>> Take immediate action against those involved in irregularities in the capital market.

>> Encourage companies, which require large amounts of capital, to reduce their reliance on bank loans and raise funds from the capital market by issuing bonds and equity shares.

Yunus said it would not be possible to restore people's trust in the share market unless those involved in destabilising it through looting over the past few decades are brought to justice.

“The situation of the capital market... is unimaginable. We must overcome this situation,” he said.