Unapproved Commodity Exchange
BJCE tells BSEC it is ready to change name
Bangladesh Jute and Commodity Exchange has expressed the intention to change its name if the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission desires so.
The BJCE expressed the intention in its Monday’s reply to the show cause notice earlier served on the exchange by the BSEC. The BJCE is a private company which has recently undertaken a project to run a commodity exchange, but it did not take permission from the stock market regulator.
The capital market regulator on Thursday last week served a show cause notice on BJCE to explain why the latter had initiated a move to run a commodity exchange service without the approval of the commission.
The proposed commodity exchange in its reply to the BSEC also said that BJCE had started the process to run a pilot project after getting approval from the jute ministry on August 8.
As per the ministry approval, the BJCE had been allowed to conduct a pilot project at five purchase centres under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation — one each in Madaripur, Pabna and Kurigram and two in Rajbari, the BJCE reply said.
‘We did not start our function as per the Securities and Exchange Commission Act -1993 or Exchange Demutualisation Act – 2013,’ the letter also said.
BSEC executive director Saifur Rahman told New Age that he had ‘got a reply from the BJCE following a notice issued by the commission.’
‘We will take our next course of action soon as per the commission’s rules and regulations,’ Saifur said.
The capital market regulator initiated an investigation to this end on Monday last week after it had come to know about the issue.
BJCE chief investment officer Rahman Habib had told New Age on Sunday last week that the exchange would start its business soon.
‘The exchange will conduct the pilot project. We have already got the approval from the jute ministry in this regard,’ Habib said.
The BSEC was astonished when it came to know that BJCE was going to launch its business soon as a commodity exchange without taking permission from the commission, a BSEC senior official had told New Age recently.
‘Allowing any company or firm to conduct the commodity exchange operation is exclusively under the BSEC’s jurisdiction. But the BSEC knows nothing about it. So far as I know, the commission has received no application seeking permission for commodity exchange operation from any company by that name,’ he said.
-With New Age input
