Bangladesh’s capital market has shrunk by nearly half over the past 15 years due to prolonged irregularities and lack of coordination among key institutions, said Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Commissioner Md Saifuddin.

Speaking at a seminar titled “Empowering Investors through Emerging Technology and Digital Finance” organized by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) marking World Investor Week, the BSEC commissioner said the size of the country’s capital market has declined by 48 percent over the years.

Investors don’t see us as good people. They think those who run the capital market are all corrupt — and unfortunately, there is reason behind that perception. We must change ourselves,” Saifuddin said with frustration.

Highlighting institutional inefficiency, the commissioner noted that there is no effective coordination among the major stakeholders of the capital market.

This lack of collaboration has prevented us from building a technology-driven, transparent market,” he said.

If we truly want to transform the market, we must act now. Sit together, talk to one another — whether it’s the Commission, ICAB, CDBL or CCBL. Communication and cooperation must increase,” he urged.

Explaining why no strong IPO has entered the market over the past 18 months, Saifuddin said, “This is not a consumer market. Yet, we talk about product diversity in IPOs when the real discussion should be about investable assets.”

Referring to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), he stressed the need for utmost transparency in auditing corporate accounts. “Auditors must rethink the existing framework and ensure integrity in every audit,” he said.

Trust is our only asset to investors. Once that trust is broken, the market will collapse. Financial reports must be prepared with the sanctity of a priest,” Saifuddin remarked.

He also announced that the Commission plans to introduce machine-readable financial reports in the future, which he believes will bring greater transparency and efficiency to the market.