The Dhaka and Chittagong bourses will appeal to the High Court to
make them respondents in the writ petitions that were filed by directors
of different companies challenging the minimum shareholding rule.
The twin bourses made the announcement after an emergency meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday.
“We
were made respondents in the first writ petition, but in the three
subsequent petitions we were excluded from the list,” Rakibur Rahman,
president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, told reporters after the meeting.
“We
should be defendants in all writ petitions for the interest of the
market as well as investors, as the petitions were very much connected
with the stockmarket,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the High Court
issued a rule asking the stockmarket regulator to explain within one
week why a directive on minimum shareholding by listed companies'
directors should not be declared illegal.
Tuesday's petition was
the fourth writ petition on the minimum shareholding requirement filed
by the directors of different companies with the same High Court bench
since April 8.
A bench of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Sheikh
Hassan Arif issued the rules after hearing the petitions filed by the
directors and sponsors of Delta Life Insurance, Phoenix Finance and
Investments, Popular Life Insurance and NCC Bank.
Earlier on
November 22 last year, the SEC had made it compulsory for sponsors,
directors and promoters of listed companies to hold at least 2 percent
stakes individually in their own companies.
The commission also
made it mandatory for sponsors, directors and promoters of a listed firm
to jointly hold a 30 percent stake in the firm.
The SEC set a
six-month deadline that ends on May 22 for the sponsors, directors and
promoters, who are now jointly holding less than 30 percent and
individually 2 percent shares, to acquire the rest of the amount.