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Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission

regulatory · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Khondoker Rashed Maqsood
Role
Chairman
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
1993
Legal basis
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Act, 1993 (Act No. XV of 1993), as amended by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Amendment) Act, 2026 (passed 30 April 2026); Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969; Depository Act, 1999

BSEC is executing a comprehensive capital market reform agenda under the BNP government's 180-day programme: IPO rules overhauled (Public Offer of Equity Securities Rules 2025, gazetted December 30), whistleblower protection rules under public consultation, Capital Market Stabilization Fund Act 2026 being drafted, BSEC Amendment Act passed removing the chairman age cap, and an integrated action plan approved May 14, 2026. The DSEX benchmark stood near 5,245-5,287 points in late April through early May 2026, up roughly 46% year-on-year. Total BO accounts (investor base) had contracted to 16.39 lakh by December 2025 from 18.60 lakh at end-2022, reflecting sustained investor withdrawal during the 2022-2025 market downturn, which the current reform agenda aims to reverse. A leadership transition is imminent following the April 30 age-cap amendment.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

BSEC was established on 8 June 1993 under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act 1993 (Act XV of 1993) and is a statutory body attached to the Finance Division (not directly to the Ministry of Finance). It regulates the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), merchant banks, stockbrokers, mutual funds, and credit rating agencies. The current chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood -- a former MD of Standard Bank and IFC strategy adviser -- was appointed August 18, 2024 on a four-year term, replacing M Masrur Reaz who was initially named on August 13 but declined to serve; both appointments followed the August 5, 2024 political transition. As of May 17, 2026, his replacement has not been formally gazetted; the Daily Sun (May 15, 2026) reported Masud Khan (Unilever Consumer Care Bangladesh Chairman) as frontrunner but this is unconfirmed. DSEX: April 2026 closing ~5,287, early May ~5,220-5,245 (Trading Economics / DSE data); year-on-year gain ~46% from a low base. BO account figure (16.39 lakh as of December 25, 2025) from CDBL investor statistics page; 2.21 lakh net BO closures December 2022 to December 2025. The zero-IPO period reflects absence of merchant banker applications following the August 2024 political change, not BSEC process failure per se. The BSEC Amendment Bill passed April 30, 2026 alongside a similar IDRA amendment; both bills faced opposition objections but passed by voice vote. All figures verified against 2+ primary sources.

Sources