New body of merchant bankers pledges to develop stock mkt

Merchant bankers Saturday formed a new body with a pledge to develop the stock market further, making it as a source of fund for the country's industrialisation.

They said they are committed to work together for taking the market to a new height and will strive to woo more companies to list with the stock market in an effort to bridge gap between demand and supply for the shallow market.

The promises were made after institutionalising the merchant bankers association through first ever election since 1997, the launching year of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA), which has now 26 members.

An 11-member executive committee under leadership of M Fazlur Rahman, head of invest banking division of AB Bank, was elected.

"As an institution the merchant bankers or the association could not play its due roles for the development of the capital market for several reasons," said Rahman, in his immediate reaction after the election.

"Now we want to contribute developing our stock market. We want industrialisation through capital market, bring more new issues to the market and create a balance between the money market and capital market," he said.

He said the association under the new leadership will closely work with the regulatory body as well as the investors to take the market a new height.

Sheikh Mortuza Ahmed, head of merchant banking division of Prime Bank and who was elected as vice-president of BMBA, said the merchant bankers have no institutional representation in the market, and with the election, representation of the merchant bankers as an institution has been established.

"Now it's the beginning of a new era," he said.

M Abdur Rouf, chief executive officer of ICB Capital Management Limited, has been elected secretary of BMBA, while Abdul Awal, managing director of Bangladesh Mutual Securities Limited, has been elected treasure.

Apart from, Arif Khan of IDLC Finance Limited, Akter Hossain Sannamat of Prime Finance and Investment Limited, Mohammad Ahsanullah of Trust Bank Limited, Mr. A. Malek Shamsher of Lankabangla Finance Limited, Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan of GSP Finance Company Limited, Tapan Krishna Poddar of Alliance Financial Services Limited and Mohammad A Hafiz of AAA Consultants and Financial Advisers Limited have been elected as executive committee members.