The decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of the capital market regulator, SEC sources said.

The SEC will publish a draft amendment of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Stock-Dealer, Stock Broker and Authorised Representative) Rules, 2000 in the daily newspapers within the next seven days inviting opinion on the amendment.

On receipt of opinions on the draft amendment, the SEC will scrutinise it and place the final amendment to the commission's special body for approval. A gazette notification to that effect will be published after this approval.

In early March this year, the Consultative Committee of the SEC recommended to the commission to allow the stock brokers to run dealership activities. The committee also recommended for permitting the stock dealers to do brokerage activities.

This body has representations from Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) and SEC.

As per the present rules, the stock brokers having licenses from the bourses can buy and sell shares for its clients only, while the stock dealers can buy and sell securities for themselves only.