The securities regulator yesterday put a suspension order on LR Global Asset Management’s Tk50 crore investments on bdnews24.com as the regulator was concerned about the interest of regular investors' investment.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission made the decision at an emergency meeting as the commission was yet to receive required information about the aforementioned investment.
LR Global was asked to submit within 24 hours documents related to investment in the online news portal.
“Before the commission receive and analyze the data about the said investment, all process related to the said investment must be suspended,’ said a BSEC notification issued yesterday after the commission meeting..
“The commission made the decision as the matter concerns the regular investors,” BSEC Executive Director Saifur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.
According to a report published by the bdnews24.com yesterday, the LR Global Chief Executive Officer Reza Islam closed the investment deal with the online news portal last week.
The investment amount would be used for “the expansion of news automation and creativity” of the news portal, said the report.
Quoting bdnews24.com Editor Toufique Imrose Khalidi, the report said that it was a very encouraging endorsement for the media house brand.
Toufique was also quoted as saying that now bdnews24.com was accountable not only to its readers but also to 30,000 investors through LR Global.
Industry operators said that as per the securities rules, any mutual fund can invest 70% of its investment in listed companies and the rest 30% in non-listed but financial or money market companies.
LR Global, affiliate of LR Managers Investments in New York, started operating in the country in 2008. The company launched its first mutual fund in 2010 and currently managing six mutual funds amounting around $172 million.
LR Global CEO was quoted in the bdnews24.com’s report as saying that the primary driver for the investment was Toufique Imrose Khalidi and the brand he created with sheer determination.
The report also said that the online news portal had a great potential.