The securities regulator has sought legal opinion in an effort to revise its directive regarding the sponsor-directors' minimum two per cent shareholding portion in listed companies, the official sources said.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) sought the opinion from the Attorney General (AG) after submitting a proposal of revising sponsor-director's shareholding portion to the ministry of finance (MoF).
The securities regulator has proposed to set share holding condition for sponsor-director through four slabs considering the paid-up capital of the respective listed companies.
Asked, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam acknowledged that the securities regulator sought legal opinion for revising the directive on minimum shareholding condition.
"It will take some time to give our opinion sought by the securities regulator," Mr Mahbubey Alam told the FE. Â
A senior BSEC official said, after the issuance of the directive many directors having less than two per cent shares lost their directorships.
"The aggrieved directors filed writ petitions with the High Court (HC) challenging the securities regulator's directive. Some directors lost legal battle and some writ petitions are yet to be resolved," the BSEC official said.
He said legal opinion is a must for revising the directive, as all petitions were not resolved.
After the 2010-11 stock market debacle, the BSEC issued a directive on November 22, 2011 to create demand of shares in the market amid rapid falling trend of stock prices.
According to BSEC directive issued on November 22, 2011, each director, other than independent ones, of any listed company shall hold minimum two percent shares of the paid up capital, otherwise there shall be a casual vacancy of director.
And all sponsors/promoters and directors of a company shall all time jointly hold minimum 30 per cent shares of the paid-up capital of the company.
According to new BSEC proposal sent to MoF, each sponsor-director will have to hold minimum 2.0 per cent shares and all sponsor-directors jointly hold 30 per cent shares if the company's paid-up capital is of Tk 2.0 billion.
Every sponsor-director will have to hold minimum 1.5 per cent per cent shares and all sponsor-directors jointly hold 30 per cent shares if the company's paid-up capital is of above Tk 2.0 billion and below Tk 5.0 billion.
If the company's paid-up capital is of above Tk 5.0 billion and below Tk 10 billion, each sponsor-director will have to hold minimum 1.0 per cent shares and all sponsor-directors will jointly hold 15 per cent shares of total paid-up capital.
If the company's paid-up capital is of above Tk 10.0 billion, each sponsor-director will have to hold minimum 0.50 per cent shares and all sponsor-directors will jointly hold 10 per cent shares of total paid-up capital.
According to DSE information, the sponsor-directors of 42 listed companies including some banks have failed to hold jointly 30 per cent shares as of June 30, 2016.
mufazzal.fe@gmail.com
BSEC seeks legal opinion from AG
Mohammad Mufazzal | Published: August 22, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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