Code of Conduct

 

✼ You can download this Code of Conduct as a PDF file  CODE OF CONDUCT

 

WITH REFERENCE BANGLADESH SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CREDIT RATING COMPANIES) RULES 2022, UNDER CHAPTER- III, RULE- 10

 

GENERAL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALL THE EMPLOYESS AT

WASO CREDIT RATING COMPANY (BD) LIMITED

 

  1. That you will comply with all the required provisions of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Credit Rating Companies) Rules, 2022.
  2. That you shall comply with all the applicable laws, regulations and guidelines as time to time make applicable for you by the Commission.
  3. That you shall maintain high standards of integrity, dignity and fairness in duties and responsibilities.
  4. That you shall not, either implicitly or explicitly, give any assurance or guarantee of a particular rating prior to the final rating assessment.
  5. That you shall fulfill all the obligations in a prompt, ethical and professional manner.
  6. That you shall not indulge in any unfair competition nor shall it wean away the clients of any other rating company on assurance of higher rating.
  7. That you shall not make any exaggerated statement, whether oral or written, to the client either about its qualification or its capability to render certain services or its achievements with regard to the services rendered to other clients.
  8. That you shall maintain an appropriate level of knowledge and competence and abide by the provisions of the securities related laws, rules and regulations, which may be applicable and relevant to the activities carried on by the company.
  9. That you shall not render, directly or indirectly any investment advice about any security in the publicly accessible media.
  10. That you shall not be convicted of fraud or breach of trust.
  11. That you shall not be a bank defaulter.
  12. That you shall not indulge in any unfair competition nor shall it wean away the clients of any other rating company on assurance of higher rating.
  13. That upon becoming aware that another employee or entity under common control with the WCRCL is or has engaged in any conduct that is illegal, unethical or contrary to the laws, guidelines and internal and external standards and code of conducts etc., you shall report such information immediately to the Compliance Officer.
  14. That you shall not make promises or threats about potential credit rating actions to influence rated entities or users of the WCRCL’s credit ratings (e.g., subscribers) to pay for credit ratings or other services.
  15. That you shall not make proposals or recommendations regarding the activities of rated entities that could impact a credit rating of the rated entity or obligation, including but not limited to proposals or recommendations about corporate or legal structure, assets and liabilities, business operations, investment plans, lines of financing, business combinations, and the design of structured finance products.
  16. That you shall not hold or buy or sell or engage in any transaction in a trading instruments or listed securities issued by a rated entity or obligor in the analyst’s area of primary analytical responsibility. This would not preclude the analysts or employees from holding or trading a diversified collective investment scheme or mutual fund that owns a trading instrument issued by a rated entity or obligor in the analyst’s area of primary analytical responsibility.
  17. That you shall not solicit money, gifts, or favors from anyone with whom the WCRCL does business and shall not accept gifts offered in the form of cash or cash equivalents or any gifts exceeding a minimal monetary value.
  18. That you have involved in a personal relationship (including, for example, a personal relationship with an employee of a rated entity, obligor, or originator, or the lead underwriter or arranger of a rated obligation) that creates an actual or potential conflict of interest shall be required to disclose the relationship to the Compliance Officer (CO).
  19. That you shall not disclose any non-public information about rating opinions or possible future rating actions of the WCRCL. You also shall not use or share confidential information for any purpose excepting the conduct of rating.
  20. That you [very employee or analyst or member of Rating Committee] shall comply with the maintenance of secrecy as per section 19 of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969.

 

ADDITIONAL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ANALYST AT

WASO CREDIT RATING COMPANY (BD) LIMITED

 

  1. That you shall at all times exercise due diligence, ensure proper care and exercise independent professional judgment in order to achieve and maintain objectivity and independence in the rating process.
  2. That you shall have a reasonable and adequate basis for performing rating evaluations, with the support of appropriate and in-depth rating researches. It shall also maintain records to support its decisions.
  3. That you shall have in place a rating process that reflects consistent and international rating standards.
  4. That you shall conduct field visit (i.e., visit to client’s factory, office, business premise, directors, officers, auditors, valuers, major customers and suppliers, etc.) during any credit rating i.e., on both initial and surveillance rating: Provided that in case of small medium enterprise rating (i.e., SME rating), the field visit shall be made at least in the initial rating.
  5. That you shall assure credit ratings shall be assigned by the Rating Committee of WCRCL but not by any individual analyst. The Rating Committee shall examine and review the analysts’ proposed rating thoroughly and shall announce final rating.
  6. That you shall keep track of all important changes relating to the client companies and shall develop efficient and responsive systems to yield timely and accurate ratings. Further, you shall also monitor closely all relevant factors that might affect the creditworthiness of the issuers.
  7. That you shall not make any untrue statement, suppress any material fact or make any misrepresentation in any documents, reports, papers or information furnished to the stock exchange or public at large.
  8. That you shall ensure that there is no misuse of any privileged information including prior knowledge of rating decisions or changes.
  9. That you shall not offer fee-based services to the rated entities, beyond credit ratings and research.
  10. That your determination of a credit rating should be influenced only by factors relevant to the credit assessment.
  11. That you shall prohibit from making the design of structured finance products that the WCRCL rates.
  12. That the Rating Committee shall be independent in its rating decision-making and shall disregard any internal or external pressure or interference. The Rating Committee shall not consider any positive or negative potential effects of its rating decisions on issuers/entities, issues, investors, the WCRCL itself or other stakeholders.
  13. That the members of the Rating Committee and the rating analysts shall not engage themselves in any business, which may create conflict of interest; particularly, the WCRCL shall not perform the rating of any issuer/entity or issue, which has any relation with WCRCL or its affiliates or its directors or shareholders or Rating Committee members or rating analysts.
  14. That the determination of a credit rating shall not be influenced by such factors, which are not relevant to the credit assessment, such as the existence of or potential of a business relationship between the WCRCL or its affiliates and the issuer/entity or its affiliates or any other party, or the non-existence of such a relationship.
  15. That you should not proceed for any rating activities, unless to get the confirmation of finalizing the agreement with client and received advance rating fees.

Any changes/ further instructions if needed shall be communicated to you time to time.

 

I read the above code of conduct for employees and I assure that I shall abide by the code of conduct of WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited.

 

✼ You can download this Code of Conduct as a PDF file  CODE OF CONDUCT

 

 

Razib Ahmed Profile Details:

Razib Ahmed has been working at WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Ltd. as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since September 2025. He was positioned as Chief Rating Officer (CRO) in the same organization from January 2024 to August 2025. Prior to joining WCRCL, he worked with Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd. (CRISL) as Vice President and Chairman of the Internal Review Committee. He joined CRISL in January 2022. He started his career in the credit rating industry in 2006 as a financial analyst at Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) and served for more than 15 years in different positions at this organization, including Head of Business Development Division, Unit Head of Rating Division, etc.

Mr. Ahmed has an MBA from Dhaka University in Finance and Banking. In CRISL and CRAB, he has performed several rating assignments including ratings of financial institutions (banks, NBFIs, General Insurance), large corporate, projects, structured instruments, and financial forecasting and modeling of various industries. He was also responsible for ensuring the analytical quality and due diligence aspects of four teams under the Rating Unit of CRAB. He was also actively engaged in methodology development for assessing credit worthiness and credit rating for urban local bodies (ULBs) in Bangladesh. At present, he is a member of the ‘Technical Committee’ formed by Bangladesh Bank to develop uniform rating methodologies and score models for credit rating agencies.

Mr. Ahmed received training on ‘Best Practices in Rating’ and ‘Rating of Bond Market Mutual Funds’ arranged by Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Association for Credit Rating Agencies in Asia (ACRAA), held in Manila, Philippines; training on ‘Indicators for Effective Macroeconomic Risk Analysis’ arranged by Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC), and the Association for Credit Rating Agencies in Asia (ACRAA), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and participated in various training programs and workshops arranged by CRAB, CRISL, MCCI, DCCI, BEI, etc.

This will close in 0 seconds

Md. Al Amin Jewel Profile Details:

Md. Al Amin Jewel has been working at WCRCL as Chief Rating Officer (In-Charge) since October 2025. He has been with WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited since 2012.

 

Mr. Jewel has an MBA from Bangladesh Open University (BOU) with a major in Finance and Banking, and a Masters of Business Studies (MBS) with a concentration in Accounting from National University. In addition, Mr. Jewel is an articleship student at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and has completed business level. In WCRCL, he completed many rating assignments, including ratings of financial institutions (NBFIs and general insurance), large corporations, SME projects, instruments, and various industries.

 

Mr. Jewel received training on ‘Credit Risk Management’ (Credit Risk Analysis, Financial Risk, Operational Risk, and Cash Flow Analysis) conducted by Financial Excellence Limited and participated in various training programs and workshops arranged by WCRCL.

This will close in 0 seconds

Monira Islam Profile Details:

Monira Islam has been working at WASO Credit Rating Company Limited as a senior financial analyst since 2018 and as a team leader since 2023. Before joining WASO, she worked with Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd. (CRISL) as a research officer since 2010.

 

Ms. Monira has an MBA from Daffodil International University in Finance. In WASO and CRISL, she is a dedicated and detail-oriented financial analyst with 12 years of experience. In this time, she completed many rating assignments, including ratings of general insurance, MFIs, power plants, large corporations, projects of various industries, and SME clients. As a senior financial analyst, she performs quantitative and statistical analysis, accounting, and decision-making with strong analytical skills. She also assists in training and, as needed, supervises her team members. Experienced in client relations, effective communication, report generation, process development, and documentation.

This will close in 0 seconds

Maharan Nasrin Profile Details:

Maharan Nasrin has been working at WCRCL as a senior financial analyst for WASO Credit Rating Company (BD.) Limited and as a team leader, since 2014. Maharan Nasrin has an MBA from Eastern University in Finance. In WCRCL, she completed many rating assignments, including ratings of large and medium corporations, projects, and SMEs. Besides, assessing, analyzing, and interpreting complicated business and financial information from different SMEs and corporations throughout her stint as an analyst, Ms. Nasrin gathered knowledge and learned different characteristics of numerous industries, such as textiles (RMG, RMG accessories, etc.), trading, rice mills, and others.

 

Ms. Nasrin has participated in all the in-house training and workshops. Before starting a career in the credit rating industry in Bangladesh, Maharan Nasrin worked with Jamuna Bank Limited.

This will close in 0 seconds

Ummay Fatema Profile Details:

Ummay Fatema has been working at WCRCL as a senior financial analyst and team leader since 2015. She has an MBA from Rajshahi University in finance and banking. In WCRCL, she completed many rating assignments, including ratings of large corporations, projects, and many other business entities. Her key responsibilities include reviewing and conducting critical examinations of credit rating applications, managing all kinds of risks and regulatory compliance, supervising and assisting team members to meet time-bound action plans, nurturing new members of the team, maintaining liaison at a regular interval across various clients, bankers, and auditors for gathering and updating business information, etc.

This will close in 0 seconds

Md. Rafiul Bary Profile Details:

Md. Rafiul Bary has been working at WCRCL as a senior financial analyst for WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited since 2015 and is currently working as a team leader. Before starting his career in the credit rating industry in Bangladesh, Mr. Rafi also worked with Invesco Global.

 

Mr. Rafi has an MBA from the Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) in Finance and Banking. In WCRCL, he completed many rating assignments, including ratings of large corporations, projects, and more than thousands of SME clients with diversified industries and modeling of various industries. He also worked for ensuring analytical quality and due diligence aspects of rating and actively engaged in industry paper writing.

This will close in 0 seconds

Md. Firoz Hossain Profile Details:

Md. Firoz Hossain has been working as a compliance officer for WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited since 2020. Before joining this company, Mr. Firoz worked at BRB Hospitals Limited as the In-Charge of the Billing Section, and he also worked at WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited as the Executive of the Business Development Department.

Mr. Firoz completed his graduation and post-graduation in economics from Dhaka College under the National University.

This will close in 0 seconds

Md. Akter Hossain has been working at WCRCL as a Financial Analyst for WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Limited. He joined in WCRCL in 2016. and is currently working as a deputy team leader. Mr. Akter has an MBA from the Prime University (PU) in Finance and Banking. In WCRCL, he completed many rating assignments, including ratings of large corporations, projects, and more than a thousand SME clients with diversified industries and modeling of various industries. He also worked to ensure analytical quality and due diligence aspects of rating and actively engaged in industry paper writing.

 

This will close in 0 seconds