Bangladesh will remove the chiefs of the country's securities regulator after an independent probe blamed them for the recent stock market crash, the finance minister said. The benchmark Dhaka Stock Exchange General (DGEN) index hit a high of 8918.51 points on December 5 last year before plunging to around 5,200 points in two months, gutting hundreds of thousands of small investors.
In January the government ordered a probe into the crash after weeks of violent protests by investors and amid media reports alleging some traders manipulated the market with the help of regulators.
The government published the 284-page probe report Sunday, with finance minister A.M.A Muhith vowing legal action against the manipulators. He said the government would replace the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman and his two deputies this week.
"The government thinks that the SEC should be recast to restore confidence in the capital market," the finance minister told reporters on Saturday night. The minister said the government would conduct further probe into the allegations that some businessmen linked to the ruling Awami League party were involved in a stocks scam.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange, which now trades at about 6,000 points, was one of the world's best performing markets between 2007 and 2010, but experts warned of a bubble in which many small investors were caught up.
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