The stock market regulator has fined three members of a family Tk 7.38 million combined for manipulating the share price of Trust Islami Life Insurance through coordinated trading.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) fined Md Abu Taher Shikder, identified as the main manipulator, Tk 5.33 million. His wife, Umma Salma Nipa, was fined Tk 0.5 million, while his brother-in-law, SM Shahed Shakil, was fined Tk 1.55 million for violating securities rules.
In an enforcement order issued on October 5, the BSEC directed the three individuals to pay their respective fines within 30 working days. Failure to comply may result in further legal action under securities laws.
The stock market watchdog imposed the fines after completing hearings based on investigation reports submitted by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The DSE investigation found that serial trading through multiple beneficiary owner’s (BO) accounts created a false appearance of active trading and artificially inflated the share price of Trust Islami Life Insurance between June 1 and August 28, 2025.
The insurer’s share price rose to Tk 83.20 on August 28 last year from Tk 36 on May 29 last year, a gain of more than 131 per cent in roughly three months.
According to the investigation report, Shikder and his associates traded 34.78 per cent of the company’s shares during the period through multiple BO accounts.
They purchased 6.94 million shares and sold 5.91 million shares through the accounts, realising capital gains of Tk 28.2 million and holding unrealised gains of Tk 50.8 million during the investigation period.
The DSE identified Shikder as the largest buyer of the insurer’s shares during the period. Through his account with IFIC Securities, he purchased 2.67 million shares and sold 2.24 million shares. His transactions accounted for 13.27 per cent of the total trade volume.
The investigation also linked Shikder to nine other client codes used to trade the shares through several brokerage houses, including City Bank Capital Resources, IFIC Securities and BRAC EPL Investments.
The probe further found that accounts associated with Shikder, Nipa and Shahed acted as counterparties in transactions involving 172,270 shares of the life insurer across 46 trading days. The transactions took place on different dates in the public market.
The investigation report detailed several episodes in which the linked accounts accounted for substantial portions of daily trading activity as the share price climbed.
The regulator rejected the explanations submitted by the three individuals, concluding that the allegations established through the investigation were substantiated and that the violations were intentional.
In his written explanation, Shikder denied any intention to manipulate the market. He said his transactions had been undertaken in good faith for legitimate investment purposes and were based on his independent assessment of the company and prevailing market conditions.
He said he had evaluated the company’s earnings performance, dividend policy, shareholding structure and position in the sector before investing. Based on that assessment, he believed the market price did not fully reflect the company’s intrinsic value.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock/trust-islami-life-share-manipulation-bsec-fines-trio-tk-738m
