Investors happy with remedies given through digital tool to file complaints

Mozammel Haque, a client of Crest Securities, did not name any nominee of his 23,000 shares of Islami Bank Bangladesh before his death last year.
His successors contacted the depository authority for getting their father's holdings transferred proportionately into their BO (beneficiary owner's) accounts.
The authority advised Mohammad Fokhrul Ahsan, a son of late Mozammel, to file an online application. He did so after receiving a succession certificate from the court in favour of the claim.
It took around seven months for all of the heirs of Mr Haque to receive the shares in their own accounts. Throughout the process, they were updated through the Customer Complaints Address Module (CCAM) on the progress made in resolving the matter.
"I got my problem solved through the Complaint Module. But it could be faster," said Mr Ahsan.
He, however, acknowledged that the abrupt closure of Crest Securities and a delay in getting the succession certificate from the court were two major reasons as to why it took so long to get the share transfer completed.
Apart from Mr Ahsan, The Financial Express talked to a few other complainants, who had used the digital tool, to learn about their experiences. All of them shared a sense of satisfaction with the troubleshooting.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) introduced the CCAM in September 2019 to save time and cost that the manual complaint filing system involved.
It eased the process to submit complaints, such as non-payment of cash dividend and sale proceeds, non-disbursement of stock dividend, and unauthorised sales of shares.
Investors can also lodge complaints relating to delays in the settlement of share transactions, margin finance and interest, forced selling, and financial losses due to non-transfer of shares.
Investor Habibur Rahman Chowdhury sought a remedy to non-payment of cash dividend against shares of Aftab Automobiles through the CCAM.
He was paid the dividend in just one week after the online filing of the complaint.
"It does not take much time to get simple problems, such as non-disbursement of dividends, resolved," said Mr Chowdhury.
According to the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd. (CDBL), a total of 107 complaints have been lodged via the CCAM in the last six months.
Of those, 37 have already been addressed while 23 complaints have been withdrawn by investors.
A senior CDBL official said investors had withdrawn their complaints as companies and brokerage firms responded to their queries before any regulatory intervention.
Jakir Hosain, a client of Moshihor Securities, asked the brokerage firm to transfer his shares into his another BO account opened with SBAC Bank Investment.
Later in January, he filed a complaint against Moshihor Securities over a delay in the share transfer. His shares were then transferred within one month.
According to the BSEC, investors filed 1,383 complaints through the CCAM since its inception.
Of the complaints, 88.7 per cent or 1,224 have already been resolved while the settlement of the remaining 159 is underway.
The average settlement duration of each complaint is 24 days.
On receiving a complaint from an investor, a stock exchange asks the brokerage firm or the issuer company concerned to look into the problem. The brokerage firm or the issuer company submits a report following an investigation.
The investor then gets an update report from the stock exchange on the next course of action by the brokerage firm or issuer company. If the matter in hand is complicated, the exchange seeks further opinion from the complainant and the accused.
BSEC spokesperson Mohammad Rezaul Karim said the time of settlement gets longer when a third party is involved.
"The modernisation of any service is an ongoing process. The troubleshooting through the Customer Complaints Module will be faster in the days to come," he added.

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