FE Report

The parliament will hopefully enact the 'chartered secretaries act' in its next session paving the way to develop the corporate management in the country.

Commerce minister Mohammad Faruk Khan disclosed this Tuesday when a delegation of Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Managers of Bangladesh (ICSMB), led by its president Mohammad Asad Ullah met the minister at his secretariat office.

The Council of Advisers in its meeting on April 6 last year approved the 'chartered secretaries act'.

The approval will legalise the ICSMB to regulate, promote and develop the profession of company secretaries in the country.

The ICSMB sources said it submitted the draft act in September, 1998 proposing the government to make it mandatory for appointment of 'qualified chartered secretary' in the public limited companies and other corporate houses.

The ICSMB was established in July 1997 aiming to regulate the profession of company secretaries by imparting training and education generally in corporate management and particularly in corporate secretaryship.

The Institute confers professional degree to persons intending to pursue the profession of chartered secretary.

The affairs of the institute is governed and managed by a council consisting of 15 elected members. There are also ten sub-committees functioning as subordinate working bodies.

The country has already two professional bodies-ICAB (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh) and ICMAB (Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh)- to regulate accounts and audit and cost and management professions respectively and ICSMB is exclusively for corporate governance.

A good number of students have so far passed as 'qualified chartered secretary' from the ICSMB and now the number of registered students is above 1000.

The ICSMB is offering two and a half year postgraduate professional training course on corporate management.