Representatives of China bourses meet Bangladesh regulators

Representatives of the consortium of two Chinese bourses willing to become strategic partner of the Dhaka Stock Exchange or DSE have met officials of the regulators Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.

Former DSE president Shakil Rizvi said officials of the premier bourse of Bangladesh were also present at the meeting on Wednesday.

BSEC Executive Director Md Saifur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Thursday that it was not a planned meeting.

The representatives of the Chinese consortium met BSEC Commissioner Dr Swapan Kumar Bala, the spokesperson for the regulators said.

The DSE has approved the offer by the Chinese consortium of Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange on the partnership, but the BSEC is yet to clear the proposal.

The regulators recently asked the DSE to submit a revised proposal on the offer by two Chinese bourses, saying the commission was not in position to approve it.

The SEC said the consortium “subsequently confirmed DSE to withdraw most of their terms and conditions which contradict laws of the land, and the interest of general shareholders of DSE Ltd”.

It also set five conditions for the proposal on acceptance of the Chinese bourses’ offer.

Now, two directors of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange have come to Dhaka to discuss the conditions set by the BSEC, Shakil Rizvi said.

They held separate meeting with the DSE, according to the former DSE chief.

“They held initial discussion with us before they met the BSEC. It was a friendly discussion in the meeting,” Shakil said.

After the DSE submitted the proposal on acceptance of the Chinese bourses’ offer on Feb 22, the BSEC formed a four-member committee to check the proposal.

According to DSE officials, the Chinese consortium had proposed buying 25 percent stakes into the DSE for Tk 9.9 billion at Tk 22 per share.

In its proposal, the consortium had also mentioned it will spend over Tk 3 billion to give the DSE a technological upgrade.

But there had been no impartial evaluation of the Tk 3 billion spending offer. Besides this, the Chinese consortium had added some conditions to its offer.

The conditions included following British laws for the partnership deal, settlement of differences under UK Arbitration Act, and changing some DSE articles.  

Another consortium of India’s National Stock Exchange, Frontier Bangladesh and Nasdaq stock market of the US took part in the bidding to become the DSE’s partners.

A DSE official earlier said the other consortium offered Tk 15 per share to buy 25.1 percent shares of the DSE.

The DSE accepted the Chinese consortium’s offer as it found their offer ‘more attractive’, a DSE director had told bdnews24.com.