Stock regulator dissolves Over-the-Counter market

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has dissolved the over-the-counter (OTC) market of the country’s twin bourses by replacing it in the newly-introduced Alternative Trading Board (ATB) and small-cap board.

On Thursday, the stock market regulator took the decision in a meeting presided over by its Chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam.

Currently, 70 companies are being traded in the OTC market. As per the decision, 41 out of these 70 OTC market companies will be shifted to ATB and small-cap board of Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.

On the other hand, 29 companies will be delisted.

In line with the decision, 18 over-the-counter market companies have been shifted to the ATB and 23 to small-cap platforms of the country’s stock exchanges.

The OTC market was introduced in 2009. Until Thursday, a total of 70 companies were being traded at the OTC market, which started with 51 companies. Usually, non-compliant companies are traded at the OTC.

“The decision was taken to make the stock market vibrant and protect investors’ rights. As the companies are being traded for years at OTC, it is causing financial losses to the investors,” BSEC Commissioner Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed told The Business Post.

The commission also decided to delist the non-productive companies from those OTC companies as per the rules, he said.