BB selects 30 bonds for benchmarking

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has selected 30 treasury bonds for benchmarking as part of its latest move to develop a secondary market for the government securities. It took the ones, which are frequently traded or auctioned in large volume, out of the total 269 active treasury bonds, according to an announcement made by the central bank on Tuesday. Of all bonds, 30 do have the most representation.The government securities are, in real terms, not market-based ones and the benchmarking will be one-step forward towards developing an effective secondary market for the treasury bonds. Although the sale and buy of such bonds by the PDs in the money market is a common phenomenon, it has widened further in the ‘quantitative easing’ mechanism of the central bank. The latest move would also help determine the yield curve of the fixed-income instruments, and such yield curve again would help fix the coupon rate of the corporate bonds.Usually, the bonds having higher yields are treated as the benchmark ones. However, the total outstanding of treasury bills and bonds in Bangladesh is now around Tk 3.0 trillion. BB officials said trade of such T-bills and bonds is now increasing fast as it has already crossed Tk 450 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year.In the last fiscal year, the trading volume stood at Tk 580 billion, more than 200 per cent higher than that of the previous fiscal year.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/bb-selects-30-bonds-for-benchmarking-1605031130

Banks’ disclosure rules changed

The central bank has amended its instruction, allowing banks to provide their market disclosures within seven working days of finalising the annual audited financial statements, instead of March or September. Under the amendments, the banks are now instructed to provide required market disclosures in both qualitative and quantitative forms within seven working days of finalising the annual audited financial statements as per the allowable time limit under Section 40 of Bank Company Act 1991, according to a notification, issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Tuesday.Talking to the FE, another central bank official said the banks will have to provide market disclosure along with annual audited financial statements on their websites within seven working days after finalising the documents. The market disclosure on the bank’s website should be made through a webpage, titled ‘Disclosures on Risk Based Capital (Basel III)’, and the link to the page should be prominently provided on the home page of the website.The banks, which close their account at the end of June, were asked to provide all required disclosures in both qualitative and quantitative forms, at the end of September each year along with the annual financial statements. On December 21, 2014, the central bank issued the Guidelines on RBCA to properly implement Basel-III framework in the banking sector.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/banks-disclosure-rules-changed-1605031186

ACI declares 90pc dividend despite losses

Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Ltd has decided to pay 80 percent cash and 10 percent stock dividends for the year ended on June 30, 2020, despite incurring a loss of Tk18.45 per share. ACI officials said the dividend is being provided from the retained earnings of the company and bonus shares have been recommended for utilising the retained earnings as capital for ongoing operations. The annual general meeting (AGM) will be held on December 24 at 11:30am through digital platform. The record date is on December 1. The company has reported consolidated earnings per share (EPS) of Tk 18.45 in the negative, consolidated net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 137.67 and consolidated net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) of Tk 82.79 for the year ended on June 30, 2020 as against Tk 13.51 in negative, Tk 166.95 and Tk 25.67 in negative respectively for the same period of the previous year. However, the ACI’s standalone EPS stood at Tk 29.96, NAV per share of Tk 268.79 and NOCFPS of Tk 78.30 for the year ended on June 30, 2020 as against Tk 9.26, Tk 249.64 and Tk 25.44 respectively for the same period of the previous year.ACI Limited, a legacy of British multinational Imperial Chemical Industries, came under the control of local entrepreneurs in 1992 following a divestment. It was renamed as the ACI Ltd from the ICI Bangladesh Ltd.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/aci-declares-90pc-dividend-despite-losses-1605024870

New Chairman of ICB

Prof. Dr. Md. Kismatul Ahsan joined as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) on Tuesday. Prior to his joining he served as a Director of ICB Capital Management Limited. He was also the former Chairman, Department of Finance, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/new-chairman-of-icb-1605025080