Investors submit 11 demands to bring back confidence in stock market
Photo: Agamir Somoy
The Bangladesh Capital Market Investors' Unity Council has put forward an 11-point demand to ensure stability in the stock market, protect investors, and restore the confidence of both domestic and foreign investors.
The demands include eliminating discrimination in margin loans, listing state-owned and multinational companies, delisting and buyback protections, incorporating investor opinions, real-time monitoring, forming special funds, reforming mutual funds, and abolishing category-based discrimination, among other key issues. Representatives of the organization believe that if these demands are implemented promptly, investor confidence will return quickly.
On Sunday, the organization's president, Kazi Mohammad Nazrul, handed over the 11-point recommendations to Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Masud Khan.
The submission noted that the country's stock market has fallen into a deep crisis due to long-standing irregularities, corruption, and policy weaknesses. However, the organization expressed hope that discipline and confidence can be restored under the current commission's leadership. At the same time, it called for the implementation of their proposals in the interest of market development and stability.
Among the recommendations are:
Ensuring equal margin loan facilities for all shares, instead of the proposed margin loan policy that sets different loan limits for different securities.
Taking initiatives to list state-owned and multinational companies on the capital market within the next three months.
Demanding an 80 percent quota for general investors in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), while setting the maximum application fee limit at Tk 5,000 and reinstating lottery-based allotment.
Allowing companies in the DSE's 'Red Zone' with at least two-year time for restructuring before delisting. If delisting still becomes necessary, the entrepreneur-directors of the company must buy back all shares from general investors at the price which is higher among the two---issue price or market price.
