Committee formed to bring back unclaimed money to capital market

The first committee of the Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) has been formed to use the huge amount of unclaimed dividends in the companies listed in the capital market of the country.

This board, headed by former principal secretary to the prime minister Nojibur Rahman, shall be responsible and accountable for the fund as per the rules.

The approval came through an order issued by the BSEC on Sunday.

Rejaul Karim, executive director and spokesperson of the BSEC, told Dhaka Tribune on Monday that after the companies declare dividends, those will be sent to the investors from their dividend accounts. 

But among those who have shares in their names, if anyone passes away, goes abroad or does not inquire about the dividends for a significant amount of time, the BO (beneficiary owners) accounts will become closed or void. 

In such cases, the dividend money or shares will be returned to the company without being deposited in the investors' bank or BO accounts.

According to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), 3,315 suspended accounts have been found to have around Tk17,000 crore in unclaimed dividends.

The objective of the CMSF is to support the country's stock market alongside settling investors' claims on undistributed or unsettled dividends. 

This board will work to bring back that unclaimed money in the interest of the capital market. 

The board will be able to re-invest that money, with a ceiling of 40% of the total amount, Karim added. 

According to the order, other members of the board are Mohammad Saifur Rahman, executive director of BSEC; Dr Tanzila Deepty, associate professor of finance at Dhaka University; Shyamal Dutta, editor at Bhorer Kagoj; Tarique Amin Bhuiyan, managing director at DSE; AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul, vice chairman at CDBL; Dr Mohammad Tareq, professor of accounting and information systems at Dhaka University; and AKM Delwar Hossain, FCMA.

The president of the Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC) and the chairman of Chittagong Stock Exchange are also members of the board of governors of the CMSF.

Earlier, the securities regulator had issued rules for the CMSF through a gazette notification published on June 27 to help revitalize the capital market.