Up to 27,000 women closed their Beneficiary Owner (BO) accounts in the capital market last year despite different initiatives taken to bring in more female investors, an official source said Tuesday.
The figure was available from Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL), a share custodian of the stock market in the country.
According to CDBL data, on August 8, 2022, the number of BO accounts of investors in the capital market was 18 lakh 20 thousand and 157. Among them, the BO accounts of male investors were 13 lakh 70 thousand and 649. And the BO accounts of women investors were 4 lakh 49 thousand and 508.
On August 7 this year, the BO of women investors decreased although there was no significant change in the overall BO of investors in the capital market, according to the data.
While the BO accounts of women investors decreased by about 27000 to stand at four lakh 22 thousand and 516, the number of male investors went up during this period.
Explaining the phenomenon the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Modern Securities Limited, Khugesta Nur E Naharin, told UNB that most of the BO accounts in the capital market are managed by men.
A male investor is managing the BO accounts of his wife, mother, and sister. It may be seen that the person's wife, mother, and sister also do not know about these accounts, she said.
As a result, the information contained in the BO account figure is not the true picture of women investors. The actual figure is even lower, she said.
Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam told UNB that female members have been placed on the boards of Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange to encourage women investors’ participation.
Among the four members of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the capital market regulatory body, there is one woman, he said.
There are currently 360 officers and employees in Dhaka Stock Exchange, 10 percent of them are women. Work environment and safety have been ensured to increase the number of women officers in DSE.
Besides, several seminars have been organised to increase women entrepreneurs in the capital market. Awareness programmes have also been conducted to increase women's participation.