DSE gets new chairman

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Siddiqur Rahman Miah has been elected the new chairman of Dhaka Stock Exchange, the first since its demutualisation.

The premier bourse in a media release said on Friday he had been elected at a meeting of the board of directors.

Justice Miah was appointed chairman from among the independent directors for three years, the release said.

He began his career in the judiciary as a munsif (assistant judge) in 1976, and became an additional judge in the High Court Division on July 29, 2002. His job was made permanent two years later.

He joined the Appellate Division on Mar 28 last year and retired in June.

DSE’s new board of directors under the amended Demutualisation Act, which separates the management and the ownership of the bourse, also began its journey with the election of a chairman.

In the last election in the old system, Ahsanul Islam Tito was elected the President of DSE.

Under the new law there are seven independent directors in the 13-member board of directors, one of them strategic investor and one the CEO of the bourse.

At present the board has 12 members, since no strategic investor director has been appointed yet.

The other six independent directors are University Grants Commission Member Professor Abul Hashem, former Foreign Secretary Waliul Islam, BUET professor M Kaykobad, FBCCI First Vice-President Monowara Hakim Ali, Brig Gen Mohammad Mujibur Rahman and former President of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh Ruhul Ameen.

Shakil Rizvi, Managing Director of Shakil Rizvi Stock, Khwaja Ghulam Rasul, Managing Director of Khwaja Equity Services, Md Shahjahan, Managing Director of Jahan Securities and Sharif Anwar Hossain, Managing Director of Md Shahidullah Securities are the four shareholder directors.

DSE Managing Director and CEO Swapan Kumar Bala is the ex officio head of this board.

The government initiated efforts to demutualise the bourses in 2011 after a crisis in the stock market. The Exchanged Demutualisation Bill 2013 was passed in April last year.