The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has opened discussions on a potential stock-market listing of the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL), a move that could reshape the governance and transparency of a key institution underpinning the country's capital markets.
The issue was raised at a high-level meeting in the Finance Division conference room on Wednesday as part of a broader review of reforms aimed at strengthening market infrastructure.
Established in 2000, CDBL is a state-run depository system that facilitates the electronic trading and settlement of securities.
While no immediate decision was reached, officials agreed to examine the feasibility of listing the CDBL, signalling renewed attention to long-pending structural changes in the stock market ecosystem amid ongoing reform efforts.
The meeting was attended by Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek, the chairpersons of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), CDBL and Central Counterparty Bangladesh Limited (CCBL), as well as the managing director of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).
Speaking to The Financial Express, Ms Mobarek said the meeting reviewed a range of issues aimed at strengthening and developing the stock market.
She said a committee headed by Dr Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, had submitted a set of reform recommendations covering the DSE, CSE, CDBL and CCBL, among other institutions.
"Primarily, we discussed the recommendations and decided to implement them," She added.
Sources said the meeting also discussed the possibility of making CCBL a subsidiary of the DSE, although no decision was taken on this matter.
The committee recommended measures to enhance technological capacity across the capital market to reduce risks for investors, market intermediaries, stock exchanges, CDBL, CCBL and other related institutions.
Among the proposals were setting CDBL charges based on trading volume rather than transaction value, and verifying the national identification numbers of individual investors when opening beneficiary owner accounts with CDBL.
These steps aim to reduce market manipulation, unfair advantages and herd behaviour among investors.
The committee also called for immediate measures to strengthen the capacity of CCBL so that it can effectively perform its clearing and settlement functions, ensuring a transparent post-trade environment that mitigates risk and aligns with international best practices.
Other recommendations included revising the criteria for appointing independent directors to stock exchanges and easing overly restrictive rules that currently limit the pool of qualified candidates.
The committee suggested allowing an independent director of a stock exchange to serve as an independent director of up to three listed companies, and permitting such directors to buy and sell shares of listed firms.
The committee further recommended the removal of floor prices for all securities and ensuring that the prices of newly listed securities remain unregulated on the first day of trading.
In addition, it proposed initiatives to bring new products to the capital market, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), real estate investment trusts (REITs), green bonds, orange bonds, sustainable bonds, sukuk and specialised derivatives.
The recommendations also emphasised the need to encourage the supply of mutual and unit funds in line with investor demand, and to introduce electronic trading for all capital market intermediaries to reduce manipulation and restore investor confidence.
syful-islam@outlook.com
