The number of beneficiary owner’s accounts with zero account balance has increased since January amid the negative vibe on the country’s stock market.
A total of 67,617 BO owners have cleared out the balance from their BO accounts from the start of the year, according to Central Depository Bangladesh Limited data.
The number of BO accounts with zero share balance on January 1 was 296,901, which increased to 365,772 till April 25.
According to the data till April 25, the number of BO accounts with a share balance was 1,346,289 while 1,404,289 accounts had share balance on January 1.
Opening a BO account with the CDBL through a depository participant, which is usually a stockbroker or a merchant bank, is a must for trading shares at the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, has been on a losing streak since the start of the year.
The key index of the DSE decreased by 11.62%, or 724.39 points, since January.
On April 25, the DSEX lost 60.48 points to close at 5,518.48 points after the Bangladesh
The BSEC on April 24 restricted share price fall at maximum 3% for all companies but those which are still under floor price restriction.
Market operators pointed out that the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to increase the minimum investment requirement on the secondary market to apply for shares in an initial public offering was another reason for shifting funds from their BO accounts by a section of investors.
From January 1 to April 25, a selling spree among investors caused Tk81,262 crore to vanish from the overall market capitalization.
The market capitalization on January 1 was Tk7.80 crore while it came down to Tk6.99 crore on April 25.
The total number of BO accounts, however, witnessed an increase in this timeframe.
According to the CDBL data, the total number of BO accounts on April 25 stood at 1,788,533 while it was 1,773,551 on January 1.