Shahidul Islam

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recently released its draft rules for initial public offerings (IPOs), which propose a strict prohibition on using IPO proceeds to repay loans. The draft also introduces several other controls over how companies may deploy funds raised from the public. These rules raise a key question about the appropriate level of flexibility companies should have when allocating capital raised from shareholders.

Mutual funds play a vital role in modern capital markets. By pooling savings from thousands of small investors and investing them in diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds, they help make the market more efficient, liquid and stable. For ordinary investors, mutual funds offer a simple way to take part in the market without having to research or monitor individual securities.

Bangladesh’s economy presents a striking contrast. Its markets for real sector products such as consumer goods, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, and real assets like land and apartments are relatively robust, with their share of GDP comparable to peer countries.

For decades, Bangladesh's capital market has been trapped in a policy mistake of its own making: regulators, not the market, have set the prices of initial public offerings (IPOs).

Effective schools and learners through decentralised governance may make a difference in primary school education.

I was in a deep sleep in my room when a loud, relentless pounding on the door jolted me awake.

To serve the purpose of education, meeting the parents' demands through focusing on learning outcomes and reforming the education system are the need of the hour.

The interim government has to decide guidelines for the minimum reform targets to achieve, and where to begin.