Structural reforms have not been put in place to restore order in the Bangladesh stockmarket following a record collapse last year, although some regulatory measures were taken, a global survey found.

A survey of World Economic Forum conducted in Bangladesh by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) made the comments yesterday during the launch of the report.

The local think-tank conducted the survey for 2010 among 70 entrepreneurs and businessmen mostly in Dhaka.

A majority of the respondents expressed their concerns over developments in the capital market in 2010, when the market experienced an artificial rise of 82.8 percent between December 2009 and December 2010 before it was brought down to its knees.

The main index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange rose to a high of 8,918 points, only to see the key barometer come down to as low as 5,200 points in a period of two months.

Fifty-nine percent of the respondents pointed to ineffective rules and regulations as the main weakness of the market, while 76 percent pointed at weak monitoring and supervision by Securities and Exchange Commission, the market regulator.

Fifty-two percent of the respondents say the minority shareholders are less protected, while 67 percent refer to non-transparent rules and regulations and undue interference by influential quarters.

According to the survey, 80 percent of respondents blamed insider trading in the stockmarket. They also pointed fingers at weak financial auditing and reporting standards.

“After collapse of the capital market, not much focus was put on structural reforms, other than some regulatory measures,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, senior research fellow of CPD, while presenting the report.