Brokers demand labelling of stocks as per market value

Top brokers have demanded that listed companies be categorised based on their market capitalisation, instead of how much dividends they paid.
In a virtual meeting on Tuesday, top 30 brokers of the country discussed issues and came up with demands against the backdrop of a bearish market.
In a press release issued by the DSE Brokers Association (DBA) of Bangladesh after the meeting, the intermediaries said the current categorisation rules were not right.
Presently, all listed companies are placed in four categories -- A, B, N and Z.
Companies, which have paid 10 per cent or more dividends annually, are labelled as A stocks, those that have paid less than 10 percent dividends are in B category and those that have not given any dividend are in Z category.
Newly-listed securities are placed in N category.
The top brokers also want the current margin rules modernised and said that more good companies need to get listed in the stock market to increase its depth.
Mutual funds should be the main corporate investors in the capital market rather than banks, they said, adding that more mutual funds should be listed in the market.
They also said floor price should never be imposed again.
The meeting was headed by DBA President Saiful Islam.
DBA members believe the stock market will turn around soon. Some adjustments were expected after the removal of floor price, but since the country's economic situation is improving the stock market will rebound, the brokers said in the press release.
Among the meeting participants were Lankabangle securities, UCB Stock Brokerage, The City Brokerage, Brac Epl, Bank Asia Securities, Sheltech Brokerage, Shanta Securities, IDLC Securities, EBL Securities, United Financial Trading, MTB Securities, ICB Securities, BD Sunlife Securities, and Prime Bank Securities.
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