Demutualisation bill may get JS nod this session

The much-hyped demutualisation bill will be placed in the ongoing session of parliament any day to pave the way for separating bourses' management from ownership with a promise to bring transparency in the stockmarket.
The 17th session of Jatiyo Sangshad began yesterday.
Earlier on April 11, the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry proposed some changes to the draft Demutualisation Act 2013.
The committee recommended revising the provision of cancelling licence of a stock exchange by the regulator in case of violating securities rules.
Instead, the regulator should be permitted to suspend the licence of the bourse, the committee said.
“If the licence is cancelled, the retail investors would be affected,” AHM Mustafa Kamal, chairman of the standing committee, said.
The stock exchanges sought tax-free benefits for the first five years after demutualisation and the finance minister agreed to offer the waiver, he said.
“The finance minister will take necessary steps in this regard in the upcoming national budget,” Kamal said.
As per the draft demutualisation bill, stock exchange members, or the existing brokerage houses, will hold 60 percent shares after the demutualisation of a bourse.
The rest 40 percent will be kept for trading right entitlement certificate (TREC) holders, strategic investors and individuals.
Strategic investors will not be allowed to hold more than 25 percent shares of a stock exchange, while no individual will hold more than 5 percent.
Once the bill is passed, the stock exchanges will submit a demutualisation scheme to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission within 90 days, and the regulator will approve it within the next 60 days.
After the stockmarket debacle of 2011, a probe committee recommended demutualisation of the bourses, a process which would transform the entities currently owned predominantly by stockbrokers into public companies to be owned by shareholders.