Online Desk  :   The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Monday formed a committee to investigate the stock market involvement and activities by Saiful Alam, and Salman F Rahman — owners of controversial conglomerate S Alam Group and Beximco Group, respectively. The probe to determine potential market manipulations will also cover the wealth of family members of the two influential business tycoons during the previous Awami League regime, said a press release.

A four-member committee, led by its BSEC Director Mohammad Abul Hasan, has been instructed to submit the inquiry report within the next 60 days. The BSEC order in this regard referred to a news report that mentioned Salman F Rahman as a loan defaulter in the 1980s. His name was also linked to the infamous 1996 share market scam. After the Awami League came to power in 2009, Rahman reportedly had his name cleared from the defaulter list through “special privileges”.

A previous investigation committee, led by former Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, mentioned Rahman’s involvement in exerting control over the stock market regulator. The BSEC also cited the same news report in noting that Chattogram-based S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank through a political decision in 2017. After gaining control, the group reportedly secured loans amounting to Tk 50,000 crore, which constitutes one-third of the bank’s total loan portfolio. In response to these allegations, the BSEC formed the investigation committee to verify the claims.