Leadership crisis deepens at DSE
The top posts as per its organogram are currently being handled by its officials on charge
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the country's premier bourse, has been struggling to appoint its high-ups including managing director, with the top position remaining vacant for over a year.
The top posts as per its organogram are currently being handled by its officials on charge.
The managing director post remained vacant over a year, whose roles are now being played by an official.
Not only that, three key C-level positions — the highest posts after the managing director according to the DSE's organogram — are also vacant and are being handled by officials in acting roles.
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Among the vacant posts, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) positions have remained unfilled for over a year, while the Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO) position became vacant on 11 June.
Meanwhile, the three-year term of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) expired on 29 June. But in DSE's emergency board meeting, the DSE did not allow extension, so the CFO post also became vacant.
Mominul Islam, the board chairman of the DSE, earlier told The Business Standard, "We have not found any fit and proper candidates among the applicants for the managing director post, which has delayed filling the vacant positions."
Mentioning that they had planned to complete the appointment by June, he added, "We are doing our best to appoint a qualified person who will lead the bourse with a specific plan."
Minhaz Mannan Emon, a shareholder director on the DSE board, told The Business Standard today, "We did not find a suitable candidate for the managing director post, which is why we decided to re-advertise the position. At the same time, we are also exploring headhunting options."
He also said that upon the expiry of the CFO's tenure yesterday, the DSE board did not approve an extension. However, the board approved the appointment of a new CTO today.
The vacancy
ATM Tariquzzaman, the last managing director, resigned in May 2024 to join the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) as a commissioner.
Later, the government removed Tariquzzaman from the post of commissioner at the BSEC.
Since then, the DSE's top post has remained unfilled and Sattique Ahmed Shah is serving as managing director (acting) besides the CFO roles.
In November last year, the bourse issued an advertisement seeking to appoint a permanent managing director and other two key C-level post CTO and COO.
The COO position has been vacant since January 2024, following the resignation of Saifur Rahman Majumdar, who is now the managing director of the Chattogram Stock Exchange (CSE).
The CTO role has been empty since October 2022, when Ziaul Karim was sent on mandatory leave due to server disruptions that disrupted trading.
After circulating the advertisement for three posts – MD, COO and CTO – more than seven months have passed, but the DSE has yet to make the appointment. The advertisement invited applications by 26 December.
According to DSE sources, around ten candidates applied for the post, but none were deemed to meet the "fit and proper" criteria. As a result, the DSE has been delaying to appoint a new managing director.
At least three managing directors have left DSE without ending their tenure since 2019 basically due to disputes with the management of the DSE.
Kazi Sanaul Haque was appointed as MD in February 2020, but he did not complete his tenure as he resigned in January 2021.
The same thing also happened with Tarique Amin Bhuiyan as he quit the DSE over a "dissent" with the Board of Directors in August 2022, who had been appointed in July 2021.
Keeping the post vacant for over a year, the DSE appointed ATM Tariquzzaman as MD for a three year term in September 2023.
But he also did not stay the full time as he was appointed as commissioner at the BSEC, then he left the DSE resigning from the post.
The dilly-dallying in appointing high-ups
A DSE official said that after receiving applications from the interested candidates for the MD post, the nomination and remuneration committee (NRC) analysed the applications, and interviewed the candidates.
But the board did not find anyone fit for the DSE, as a result, the NRC did not recommend anyone for appointment.
