Mohammed Younus, a director of Shahjalal Islami Bank, gave a newspaper advertisement to sell his holdings and directorship in the bank violating securities laws.

Directors of listed companies must give announcement on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website if they want to sell their shares since it is price sensitive news, according to the rules of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the stockmarket regulator.

But Younus did not make any such announcement on the website of Dhaka bourse. Rather, he offered to sell his shares through a media advertisement.

He even did not disclose his name in the advertisement and offered interested buyers to contact with him through an e-mail.

Younus did not respond to mobile phone calls or messages from The Daily Star yesterday.

The board of the bank felt embarrassment about the issue as the director has not informed it about his planned sale of shares, said a senior executive of Shahjalal Islami Bank.

“There is no option to sell directorship because a director is appointed following approval in the annual general meeting and from Bangladesh Bank,” said Muhammad Abdul Mazid, former chairman of the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

Moreover, a director of a listed company can't sell holdings without declaration in the stockmarket, he said.

“This type of advertisement is undesirable,” said Subhankar Saha, executive director of the central bank.

According to the BSEC rule, a director of a listed company must hold at least 2 percent share in the firm.

The current market price of 2 percent shares of Shahjalal Islami Bank is about Tk 26 crore.