Deadline to correct BO account holders’ information mismatch extended

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has extended the deadline for all stock brokers to correct information mismatch about their clients' identity.

Brokerage firms registered as depository participants at the central depository system will submit the relevant compliance report that they have corrected all the account-holder's information.

The deadline for doing so has been extended till December 31, 2019. On June 20, the BSEC had ordered it to be completed within July 21 last.

Market professionals and BSEC officials said that there are many beneficiary owners (BO) accounts in the Bangladeshi capital market where identifying the actual beneficiaries of the accounts is not easy because there is inappropriate or insufficient information about accountholders.

For instances, non-transparent BO accounts are opened against someone's national identity card and bank account number, but the mobile phone number and email address of the account holder is not his or her own.

Stock manipulators and insider traders use those proxy accounts to commit securities crimes, and there is a serious call for a crackdown on such practices.

On June 20 this year, BSEC, as the securities regulator, had written to the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) to convey the commission order to correct the information mismatch to all brokers, and submit a compliance report to the commission within one month.

But that did not happen, so the regulator extended the time for submission of the compliance report.