The prime minister’s ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy on Thursday said that foreign mutual funds will get scope to invest at the country’s capital market soon that will increase overseas investment in the country.
Regulations are under process in this regard that will allow foreign mutual funds to invest at the local stock exchanges, he said at a seminar on digital investment summit at a city hotel.
Although several (local) mutual funds are in operation in the capital market, there is no foreign mutual funds in the market, Joy said.
As per the existing rules and regulations of the capital market, there is no scope for the foreign mutual funds to invest at Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, officials of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and stock exchanges said.
Asked whether there was any scope for foreign mutual funds to invest at the capital market, BSEC chairman M Khairul Hossian said, ‘Regulations formulation for private equity investment and venture capital are under process that will allow foreign institutional investment at the capital market.’
A BSEC commissioner said that rules formulation of the exchange traded fund (to be included under the existing mutual fund rules), venture capital and private equity investment are under process which will allow foreign mutual funds to invest at the capital market.
He also hoped that the commission would be able to finalise venture capital and private equity investment rules within one month, but formulation of rules for exchange traded fund will take more time.
Asked whether there was any option of enlisting overseas companies at the country’s capital market, BSEC and DSE officials said that several developed counties’ markets enlist foreign companies, but in Bangladesh there was no option of enlisting foreign companies.
The companies known as multinational companies and listed with the capital market are registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies as Bangladeshi companies, they said.
At the same time, in case of conducting functions as a mutual fund at capital market it requires to be licensed as an asset management company from the BSEC, they said.
In case of foreign asset management companies, the same rules are applicable, they said.
Source: New Age
