BSEC seeks info on ICB Unit Fund

The securities regulator has sought detailed information from the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) on operational and management aspect of the country's largest and oldest mutual fund--ICB Unit Fund, officials said.
Official sources of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said the regulator on Tuesday sent a letter seeking information from the state-run ICB.
As per the regulatory decision, the ICB will have to submit the information to the BSEC within seven working days of receiving the letter.
According to the Commission sources, the ICB will have to explain the strategy of fixing the re-purchase rates at which unit holders surrender their units along with submitting the fund's NAVs (net asset values) of last three months.
The securities regulator has also asked the ICB to explain why the ICB Unit Fund is not being managed by the ICB Asset Management Company.
All kinds of mutual funds are managed by the Asset Management Company having license of managing fund.
The BSEC also wanted to know the reason of non-payment of annual fee for the ICB Unit Fund.
The issue of operating ICB Unit Fund grabbed the attention of the BSEC after a long time as the regulator was in the dark about the fund despite having immense interest of unit holders.
Questions also revolved around the fund's character, tenure and mismatch between repurchase rates fixed by the concerned committee formed by the ICB.
A senior official of the ICB said they are likely to seek a directive regarding operational aspect of the fund from the board.
The number of unit holders of the ICB Unit Fund, according to data available in the annual report of the ICB, stood at 29,576 as on June 30, 2014. Among them holders, the majority belong to the mid-segment of the middle income groups -- retired and serving public and private sector employees.
As per the annual report, the size of the ICB Unit Fund is above Tk 43.61 billion at market prices of its portfolio, as on October 30, 2014.
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