BSEC to impose fine to collect unclaimed dividend

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the capital market regulatory body, is going to be strict in collecting the unclaimed dividend of the shareholders.

The commission is going to take disciplinary action against those listed companies who have not yet submitted unclaimed dividends to the Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) even after extending the time several times.

The chairman of the commission, Shibli-Rubaiyatul Islam, said that a decision will be taken on the fine after discussing the matter in the next commission meeting. 

Companies that do not deposit dividends will be charged daily fines and they will have to pay interest until the submission of dividends.

He said, "It is not the money of the company, it is the right of the shareholders, it must be paid. But many companies have used that money elsewhere, so some have even applied for an extension. But this time the time will not be extended. Failure to pay will result in daily fines, along with interest."

He said these things in the chief guest's speech at the discussion meeting on fund management of CMSF's latest innovation in the spirit of Capital Market New Year on Sunday.

It should be noted that the dividend declared to the shareholders in the listed companies was left undistributed. Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) has been formed with these undistributed dividends.

Initially, the size of this fund was estimated to be Tk21000 crore, but after the distribution of many companies, this size stood at around Tk8000 crore. 

But the Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) received only Tk1,000 crore, a large part of which is still in the company.

CMSF Chairman Najibur Rahman presided over the event organised at Intercontinental Hotel, Dhaka.

Bangladesh Insurance Association President Sheikh Kabir Hossain, Commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Dr Mizanur Rahman and Dr Sheikh Shamsuddin, CDBL Vice-Chairman AKM Nuru Fazal Bulbul, Dhaka Stock Exchange Chairman Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Hasan Babu, Chittagong Stock Exchange Chairman Asif Ibrahim and stock market stakeholders were present.

At the meeting, Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) paid Tk5.33 lakhs to 64 investors and 48 investors were paid stock dividend.

Earlier, CMSF paid Tk1.99 crore to 537 investors and bonus dividend of Tk2.04 lakh to 203 investors.