AFTER nearly a year of proposals and counter proposals, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has approved of the joint bid from a Chinese consortium to become a strategic partner of DSE. The deal is to be inked on May 14 after the Chinese submitted a revised bid on April 30. We welcome the entry of the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchange which are listed in the top 10 stock exchanges in the world. Their entry in the running of our premier bourse will certainly help in its development.

In the aftermath of repeated share market scams, it had become apparent that things needed to change. The need for ensuring good governance had been stressed upon in the stock market probe conducted by the government in the post-market crash of 2011. The agreement that will be signed in the middle of the month is going to open up 25 percent of the bourse to the strategic partner, which in turn should usher in foreign direct investment The deal will put in to effect the demutualisation of the bourse, which basically transforms it from an entity owned by mostly brokerage-owning members into a for-profit company owned by shareholders.

DSE now has the opportunity to upgrade itself into an international standard stock exchange with the entry of the Chinese consortium which brings in technical support worth Tk 300 crore. It is hoped that the deal will lead to a significant technology transfer that will update the software used by the bourse that will bring about more transparency in trading and training of local human resources. We for our part should let the new management work towards reestablishing the confidence of shareholders in the bourse, which hopefully will be freed from the clutches of market manipulators.