SHARE PRICE MANIPULATION
BSEC fines 4 investors, 7 entities Tk 75 lakh
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday fined 11 individuals, merchant bank, stockbrokers and firms Tk 75 lakh for manipulating share prices of different companies. The BSEC made the decision at a regular commission meeting presided over by its chairman M Khairul Hossain. Abdur Rahim, an individual investor, was fined Tk 25 lakh as he manipulated share prices of Rahim Textiles, Bangas and Mithun Knitting during 2009-10 and those of Reckitt Benckiser and Phoenix Finance First Mutual Fund in 2011, BSEC news release said.
Share price of Rahim Textiles increased by 342 per cent and that of Mithun Knitting by 248 per cent during 2009.
The BSEC release said that Abdur Rahim and his associates manipulated share prices of Rahim Textiles, Bangas, Mithun Knitting, Reckitt Benckiser, Prime Finance Capital Management and Phoenix Finance First Mutual Fund through circular trading among them, violating different securities related rules.
The Ibrahim Khaled’s probe report on the stock market scam identified Abdur Rahim as one of the investors who conducted most transactions during January 2010 to February 2011.
The capital market regulator also fined Mahafuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, Bulbul Ahmed, New Capital Finance and Commerce, Vision Capital Management, Empire Securities Holding, Equity Capital (MCS), AR Consultation, Nahar Afroze Omar Ali Foundation, Badrun Nisa and Tashrat Rayat Agro Enterprise with different amounts in connection with the price manipulation by syndication.
Vision Capital Management was fined Tk 18 lakh as the company did not inform the BSEC and the stock exchange about suspicious and manipulative transactions of Phoenix Finance First Mutual Fund’s shares and violated different sections of Securities and Exchange Commission Rules, 2000 by executing trade order without getting written approval.
Prime Finance Capital Management was fined Tk 2 lakh as the merchant bank provided margin loans to its clients in trading Phoenix Finance First Mutual Fund above allowable limit, BSEC release said.
The BSEC at the meeting allowed Rupali Life Insurance Company Limited to raise capital worth Tk 36.02 crore by issuing 1.20 crore rights shares against existing shares.
The issue price of the rights shares of the company will be Tk 30 each including a premium of Tk 20.
The BSEC also allowed ICB AMCL First Mutual Fund, a close-ended mutual fund, to convert it into an open-ended mutual fund with change in its name as ICB AMCL First Converted Unit Fund.
The target size of the fund has been set at Tk 50 crore and the fund will be treated as a growth fund, the BSEC release said.
ICB Capital Management Ltd is the sponsor of the fund, while ICB Asset Management Company will act as manager to the fund.
The BSEC on the day also asked the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to update all beneficiary owners’ data preserved in the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited within January 31 next year to bring changes to the existing initial public offering process.
-With New Age input
