The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a High Court verdict declaring illegal a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission notification that sponsor-directors of listed companies individually must hold minimum two per cent shares of the paid-up capital of their respective companies. The Appellate Division chamber judge, Justice Hasan Foyez Siddique, passed the order after hearing two petitions filed by authorities of the BSEC and the National Credit and Commercial Bank challenging the High Court decision about SEC notification of holding two per cent share.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam appeared for SEC and Shafique Ahmed for NCC.
On Wednesday the bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain pronounced the verdict over a petition filed by National Credit and Commerce Bank sponsor-director Mostafizur Rahman.
The commission issued a notification on November 22, 2011 asking sponsor-directors to hold 2 per cent shares individually and 30 per cent shares collectively.
The writ petition had challenged the Clause D and E of the commission notification.
The Clause D said that the sponsor-directors must have 2 per cent shares while the Clause E said that if any director failed to hold 2 per cent shares, his or her vacant post would be filled up by anyone holding 5 per cent shares of the company.
The petitioner said there was contradictions in the two clauses as one said that sponsor-directors must hold 2 per cent shares while the other said that anyone having 5 per cent shares could be a director.
Besides, if any company has 40-45 sponsors, how they will be able to become directors by holding 2 per cent shares each, he argued.
-With New Age input
