Rupali Bank share trade resumes Sunday
Share trading of the Rupali Bank, which has remained suspended since November last year, will resume on Sunday.
The date for resumption of the state-run bank's shares was fixed at a board meeting of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday.
The decision was made after around one-fourth of shares in the bank were demated, meaning paper shares are converted into electronic ones.
However, the DSE in consultation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided in May this year to resume the Rupali Bank trade after completion of dematerialisation of at least half of the bank's publicly held shares.
As of yesterday, around 1.80 lakh shares were demated, which is around one-fourth of the publicly held shares, according to DSE statistics.
"It will not be wise to wait for a long time since the dematerialisation process is time- consuming," said a DSE high official.
Before the trading suspension, the share prices of the bank were skyrocketing or nose-diving now and then because of the sale of 93.6 percent government stakes in the bank to a Saudi prince.
However, the government in March this year cancelled the sell-off procedures, as Prince Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud, who won the bid to buy Rupali Bank, failed to deposit the money on time in line with the bidding provisions.
The Saudi prince, who won the bid of 93.6 percent stakes in Rupali Bank for US$458, was dilly-dallying for years in finalising the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the government.
The market experts however feared that the prices of Rupali Bank may witness a huge correction after the trading resumption.
Meanwhile, the stock market regulator yesterday said in the wake of rumours in the stock market, it is investigating to find out the source of rumours.
“If the commission finds any person involved with dissemination of rumours, it will take legal actions against him/her,” said SEC member Mansur Alam.
He also said it is very tough to find out the source of rumour, but they will try their best to find the sources of the rumours.
He said recently that rumours are ruling the market. “The investors should always avoid rumours while investing their money in securities,” he added.
Meanwhile, price indices on the DSE closed lower yesterday. The DSE General Index fell by 30.17 points, or 1.01 percent, to 2939.18 points, while the DSE All Share Price Index declined by 19.29 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2536.2 points.
A total of 1,94,38,816 shares worth Tk 272.69 crore changed hands. Of the issues traded, 72 advanced, 151 declined and 13 remained unchanged.
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