Stakeholders are about to face pressure regarding the Consolidated Customer Account (CCA). Soon, they may be required to submit this account daily, whereas currently, companies submit it once a month.
Last Tuesday, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) sent a letter to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) seeking opinions on this matter. The letter was signed by Abdul Baten, assistant director of the Market and Intermediaries Affairs Division (MIAD) of the BSEC.
DSE has been instructed to provide feedback on this issue within 15 days.
When contacted, a senior DSE official said, "We have received this type of directive from the BSEC. We are discussing these matters and will submit a reasonable proposal to the BSEC after talking with the stakeholders."
According to DSE sources, there are a total of 309 stakeholders, both old and new. Many stakeholders have raised concerns about whether the DSE can monitor daily CCA submissions. They argued that this would put additional pressure on the companies without achieving any real benefits.
As per BSEC rules, stock brokers maintain one CCA only for the deposit of the money received from and for, and payment of money to and for the customers.
According to BSEC and DSE sources, there have been several irregularities in the CCAs over time. Institutions have not been seen performing their proper responsibilities to protect investors from losses. The accounts have also not been managed correctly by the companies, resulting in significant irregularities.
Sources indicate that the DSE inspected 12 brokerage houses on July 9, 2020, two on July 16, two on August 25, and eight from September 6 to October 19. While customers were supposed to have Tk 107 crore deposited, only Tk 49 crore was found, leading to a deficit of Tk 58 crore.
According to DSE data, Apex Investment was found with Tk 26.28 crore, Sinha Securities Tk 7.81 crore, Al Muntaha Trading Company Tk 4.69 crore, Expo Traders Tk 4.34 crore, Joytun Securities Tk 2.70 crore, Mirror Financial Management Tk 2.54 crore, Arena Securities Tk 2.10 crore, M Securities Tk 2.09 crore, Sad Securities Tk 1.75 crore, and Shyamol Equity Management Tk 82 lakh was withdrawn.
After DSE monitoring increased, many companies have again submitted that money as CCA.
Additionally, a recent audit report from the BSEC mentioned that Tk 105 crore was withdrawn from the CCAs of customers by a brokerage house named Crest Securities. Recently, allegations have been raised against Mashiur Securities over the misappropriation of Tk 161 crore.
Regarding the latest development, DSE Brokers Association President Saiful Islam said, “This will put additional pressure on the institutions. Currently, we are submitting monthly.
“We will discuss these matters with the BSEC and DSE. We will request that a reasonable directive is issued.”
