BSEC unveils draft rule to form stock market stabilisation fund
The BSEC claimed that there are dividends worth Tk21,500 crore which has remained unsettled for a long time in several companies.
Aiming to provide liquidity support to the capital market, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will form a fund with the unpaid dividends.
The fund will be run under the name of Stock Market Stabilisation Fund.
The BSEC claimed that there are dividends worth Tk21,500 crore which have remained unsettled for a long time in several companies.
The securities regulator has framed a draft regulation and unveiled it for the public opinion for formation and execution of this fund.
The draft rules said the main objectives of the fund are ensuring liquidity support to the capital market by buying and selling listed securities, lending and borrowing of listed securities for short selling and through settlement of the investors' claim.
The fund will be formed by transferring dividends which have remained unpaid, unclaimed or unsettled for more than three years.
The rules further mentioned that any cash in the client's ledger under consolidated customer account and any securities left in the beneficiary owners' account remaining unclaimed for more than three years must also be transferred by the stock broker to the fund.
As per the draft rules, in case of delay in transferring such unclaimed dividends, the issuer, stock broker or portfolio manager must be charged 2% interest rate on the dividends monthly.
The fund could generate income from buying and selling securities, investments, credit facilities, interest income on bank deposits, and fees and fines received.
If any shareholder claims the cash dividends which are already transferred to the fund, the shareholder will get back the dividend on condition of submitting proper documents.