Amended three-year lock-in period for sponsors starts today
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) yesterday said it would implement the amended lock-in period for placement shareholders and sponsors from today.
Under the new rule, counting for the three-year lock-in period will start on the first day of trading instead of issuance of prospectus, delaying the sale of shares of sponsors and placement shareholders by at least six months.
The stock market regulator has also formed two committees to bring in the necessary amendments in rules and regulations or notifications to implement the other changes it announced recently to bring back investor confidence.
The two committees have been asked to place their findings to the commission within the next two weeks so that the commission can amend the rules, regulations and notifications on the basis of their recommendations.
On April 29, the BSEC took some decisions such as an increase in general investors’ quota and extension of lock-in period on shares of sponsors.
Following the announcement, DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), jumped up 219.44 points, or 4.20 percent, after it sank 775 points in the previous three months.
The market though was back to its sinking trend in the last three days, shedding 122 points.
Yesterday, the commission decided to form the committees headed by Farhad Ahmed and Md Anowarul Islam, both executive directors of the BSEC, to place their recommendations before the commission.
One of the committees will work on raising the initial public offering (IPO) size, increasing quota for general investors and a framework on how to issue pre-IPO shares without any approval from the BSEC.
The committee will get two weeks to bring in the necessary amendment on public issue rule and other notifications.
Another committee will work on inclusion of new condition in case of issuance of bonus shares and minimum share holding by sponsors. The committee will get one week to place their amendment report to the BSEC.
The BSEC came with a host of decisions to bring back investor confidence, said Minhaz Mannan Emon, director of the DSE.
“These will be helpful for the market,” he said, adding they would be implementing all the changes as early as possible.
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