106 listed companies yet to turn in shareholding data

A total of 106 listed companies failed to submit information on the shareholding status of their sponsors and directors to regulators.
A total of 235 listed firms were supposed to provide information on the shareholding status to the bourses by Sunday; 129 companies submitted the data.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday sent a report on the shareholding status to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On June 27, the stockmarket regulator instructed the country's twin bourses to gather information on the shareholding status of sponsors and directors of listed firms.
In separate letters to the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, SEC had prescribed a form to be filled out and asked the bourses to submit a report by July 15.
The SEC, after a meeting on June 26, announced that sponsors and directors who held less than 2 percent shares individually and 30 percent jointly in their own firms as of May 21 will not be allowed to sit on the boards anymore.
In a notice on November 22 last year, the SEC made it mandatory for sponsors and directors of listed companies to always keep the fixed percentage of shares under individual and combined ownership.
The SEC directive was meant to stop share sales by sponsors and directors and to create a buying pressure on the stockmarket for the benefit of investors, who have been suffering losses since the price debacle in January last year.
However, several writ petitions were filed challenging the directives.
The High Court on June 21 upheld the SEC's special power to impose any condition on the market, rejecting five petitions that challenged the fixed percentage of shares under individual and combined ownership.
On May 21, the High Court also upheld the SEC directive on minimum shareholding after rejecting petitions filed by some directors and aspiring directors of three listed firms.
The petitioners had challenged the legality of the SEC circular on minimum shareholding.