Firms must issue notice to declare interim dividends

A listed company will have to issue a notice at least three days before a meeting on releasing quarterly financial statements and declaring interim dividends.

No equity company or fund manager can offer bonus shares as interim dividends, which means that only cash will be allowed as interim dividends, according to the revised listing regulations of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.

Previously, there were no prerequisites for issuing such notices to release quarterly financial statements and announce interim dividends.

In June, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission brought about major changes to the listing regulations to make these more effective; a gazette on the amendments was issued recently.

As per the revised regulations, the stock exchanges can make recommendations to the BSEC on any initial public offering (IPO) prior to regulatory approvals. The bourses won back this authority after three years, as the practice was suspended by the regulator following a conflict between BSEC and Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2012 over the listing of a new company.

Before submitting the final recommendations, the bourses can seek additional information, documents and clarification from a firm that intends to go public.

The regulator would take its decision on an IPO approval after receiving and evaluating the observations and recommendations from the bourses.

The stock exchanges can also inspect the offices or factories of a company with prior permission from the regulator, and can also seek additional information, explanation or documents from a firm anytime.

As per the revised regulations, equity companies, mutual funds and issuer of debt securities will have to comply with three separate sets of required information and documents for their listing on the stock exchanges. Previously, there was only a set of requirements.

The initial listing fees will be a minimum of Tk 50,000 and a maximum of Tk 1 crore, depending on the size of a company's paid-up capital. Previously, the listing fees ranged between Tk 10,000 and Tk 1 lakh.

In the revised regulations, the minimum annual listing fee has been set at Tk 50,000 to Tk 6 lakh. The previous regulations had stated that companies will have to pay the annual fees set by the commission from time to time.

An issuer company must have an official website, which must remain functional even after its listing on the stock exchanges. The website must contain all price sensitive information, annual reports, quarterly financial statements, and business and company profile.