Likely to request BSEC to review the decision
Trading right entitlement certificate holders of the Dhaka Stock Exchange are likely to request the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission to review charge hike on them. DSE sources said the TREC holders were dejected by the increase of charges on them after the demutualisation of the bourse on November 21 last year. The issue of charge hike came into focus after the DSE on December 15 had asked the TREC holders to pay Tk 5,000 as renewal fee for each trader of their respective organisation within January 13, 2015.
The DSE also said that no person would be allowed to act as a trader without renewal of trader certificate.
Stockbrokers said the TREC holders were struggling to sustain at the prevailing market condition and the increased charges would put extra burden on them.
As per the new DSE rules enacted after the demutualisation of the stock exchange, a member-turned-TREC holder of the bourse will have to pay Tk 50,000 annually for the renewal of his certificate and Tk 5,000 annually for renewal of each trader certificate under his/her organisation to the stock exchange, along with the existing annual fee Tk 10,000 submitted to the BSEC and Tk 10,000 submitted to the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited.
The bourse in December 11, after the launch of a new trading system of the bourse, reviewed charges by increasing charges on turnover by 0.001 per cent to 0.003 per cent from 0.002 per cent. Eventually stockbrokers will have to bear the increased charges.
The bourse at the same time also scrapped Tk 2 contract charge per transaction.
Former DSE senior vice-president Ahmed Rashid Lali told New Age that the renewal fee of Tk 50,000 imposed on TREC holders along with Tk 5,000 for each trader would put extra burden on the TREC holders as the entities had been struggling to survive after the market crash due to sharp fall in turnover.
‘I have already prepared an application to file with the capital market regulator requesting to review the charges imposed on TREC holders and traders as it would be hard for the stockbrokers who deal with small-scale investors,’ he said.
‘I would request the market regulator to reduce TREC holders’ renewal fee to Tk 25,000 and trader certificate renewal fee to Tk 1,000 to ease burden on brokers,’ Lali said.
Former DSE director Md Hanif Bhuiya told New Age that it would be difficult for him to pay Tk 5,000 for each trader under his organisation as around 42 traders worked under his organisation.
He also said that along with the yearly charges on TREC holders, the capital market regulator should reduce the renewal charges on traders to Tk 1,000.
Asked, DSE managing director Swapan Kumar Bala told New Age, ‘There is scope for reviewing the charges by amending the relevant regulation of the bourse.’
‘We could propose the regulator in this regard if the board wants,’ he said.
-With New Age input
