Business Report :
Both Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges have also been instructed to keep the 23 intermediaries away from operating in the bourses
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has suspended the initial public offering (IPO) quota of 15 merchant banks and 8 asset management companies, for failing to comply with regulations and remaining inactive for a lengthy period of time.
Two separate investigations are already underway.
The 15 merchant banks are BetaOne Investments, Cosmopolitan Finance, EC Securities, Exim Islami Investment, FAS Capital Management, First Security Islami Capital and Investment, Grameen Capital Management, GSP Investment, Hal Capital, IL Capital, Jamuna Bank Capital Management, Meghna Capital Management, PLFS Investments, Sonali Investment, and Strategic Finance Limited.
The eight asset management companies include Alif Asset Management Company, Invest Asia Capital Asset Management, BDV Asset Management Company, Meghna Asset Management, Bloominance Asset Management Company, Blue-Wealth Assets, Belt and Road Asset Management, and BMSL Asset Management Company Limited.
According to BSEC sources, as per the rules, each merchant bank must submit at least one IPO issue proposal to the regulator every two calendar years.
But BSEC identified 15 merchant banks out of 65 that did not submit any proposal to list a company on the stock market for the last two years.
The stock market regulator also identified eight asset management companies out of a total of 51, which are not currently managing any funds.
