Publicly-traded companies are in difficulty to comply with the government's instruction to adopt the status as Public Limited Company (PLC).
They are obliged to pay Tk 50,000 each to each stock exchange for changing into PLC from Ltd entity, despite it being a government order.
The government amended the Companies Act 2020, incorporating the provision so that private enterprises can be differentiated from public entities.
As per the government's instruction, a listed company is required to hold an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) to receive shareholders' approval of the proposal to change the company's name.
Then, the company will have to change its name in its articles of memorandums by notifying the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) about shareholders' approval.
After bringing the changes in the articles of memorandums, the company will be able to change its name on a stock exchange but only after paying Tk 50,000 to the exchange in line with the listing regulations.
Most of the listed companies listed on both the stock exchanges.
So, a company will have to pay Tk 0.1 million for the purpose.
If an issuer of listed securities "intends to change its name, it shall pay the exchange a fee of Tk 50,000" prior to the name change," reads the listing regulations.
But company representatives said the change had been imposed on them and so, the fee was not rational.
Asked, Managing Director of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ATM Tariquzzaman said, "Listed companies have a very strong point. The government could exempt them from paying any money."
The complications do not end here.
Before inception, a listed company is also required to receive many certificates from different government organisations, including the Department of Environment. Therefore, the company has to take the trouble of changing its name in the registers of those organisations.
Moreover, the name has to be consistent in the documents submitted to banks.
Under the situation, the Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BSEC) sent a letter to the BSEC on March 7 seeking exemption of the fee.
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