Dhaka Stock Exchange 1

DSE moves to expand inter-district trading of stocks

Inter-district trading of stocks is going to be expanded with the broadening of the wide area network (WAN) automated system as Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) hopes for a significant rise in its daily turnover. Currently, the average monthly DSE turnover is Tk 4.00 billion in value, but with such expansion, the main bourse expects the figure to double within next few months.

"We are optimistic about a surge in our business as our members are going to start their operations in Sylhet, Barisal, Rajshahi, Comilla, Rangpur and other parts of the country," one DSE director told. The DSE director said the number of individual investors will hopefully increase by around 50,000. Currently, there are about 0.2 million individual investors in the country's stock market.

DSE has already started online stock business in Chittagong through LankaBangla Securities, a member of both DSE and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). The DSE move on business expansion was taken in view of an upgraded trading system launched on August 21 to cater to the growing demand for securities and enhance trading capacity to 50,000 howlas from 15,000 only per day. The capacity could be raised upto 100,000 howlas.

Hewlett & Packard (HP) of USA, Scandent Solutions of Chennai (India) and Syscom Information Systems Ltd of Bangladesh completed the upgradation project at a cost of Tk 60 million which doubled the previous 16-bit Tandem Electronic Security Architecture (TESA) application to 32-bit architecture.

DSE Members Equity Partners Ltd, Ershadul Huq and Co, E-Securities Ltd, Globe Securities Ltd, Jubair and Co, Anwar Securities Ltd, Banco Securities Ltd, Latif Securities Ltd, Mohd Shahidullah and Co, Ragib Ali and Co, Surma Securities Ltd and Tareq Ibrahim and Co are going to expand their business in Comilla, Rangpur, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Narayangonj and Sylhet.

Modern systems like radiolink, fibre optic and dedicated line have been installed for the brokers of Dhaka and other cities to log-on directly to the trading server of the DSE.

"DSE has a commitment to help broaden the securities market and the gradual expansion is the manifestation of the same," DSE vice president Ahmad Rashid said.He said the DSE will soon open a liaison office in Chittagong, the commercial capital of the country, in view of the enhanced stock business. A real time online trading platform will only bring the scattered investors under the mainstream stock trading, market operators said.

"Local investors had earlier faced problems in getting the latest disclosures and stock prices in absence of any online platform and from now on we'll be able to do business in a smooth and hassle-free way," KM Sufian, a Chittagong-based investor, told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, some of the DSE members have already opened branch offices in Dhaka city's different business areas like Uttara, Gulshan, Mohakhali DOHS, Dhanmondi and Purana Paltan.