The country’s capital market is recession for a long time. While the capital markets of other countries around the world were down during the Corona pandemic, investors’ interest in the capital market of Bangladesh increased.

The number of investors’ Beneficiary Owners Accounts (BO accounts) also increased in line with that.
However, BO accounts started declining from mid-2021. After that, although they increased slightly for two or three months, investors were seen leaving the capital market almost every month. About 30,000 investors have left the capital market in just 9 months of this year.

During the period under discussion, the BO accounts of about 32,000 more investors became zero shares. Thus, a total of 62,000 investors have become inactive in nine months of this year.

According to analysis of the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) data, the total number of BO account holders in the capital market as of December 31 last year was 16,82,452.

As of September 30, this had decreased to 16,32,227. That is, the number of BO accounts decreased by 30,225 in the space of nine months.

At the end of September, the number of BO accounts with shares among the total BO accounts stood at 12,09,207. There are a total of 10,257 crore shares and units in those accounts. The market value of which was Tk 3,16,420 crore.

At the end of December last year, there were 12,71,759 BO accounts with shares. There are a total of 10,156 crore shares and units in those BO accounts. The market value of which was Tk 3,09,373 crore.

On the other hand, the number of BO accounts with zero shares stood at 3,75,859 as of September 30. At the end of December last year, there were 343,974. That is, in the space of nine months, the number of zero-share BO accounts has increased by 31,885.

Accordingly, in the last nine months, BO accounts have decreased by 30,225 and the number of zero-share BO accounts increased by 31,885. That is, 62,110 investors have become inactive in the capital market in just 9 months.

The CEO of a brokerage house said, “There is a long-term panic among investors. Moreover, there has been no significant step taken by the regulatory agency to increase confidence in the market. No new initial public offering (IPO) has come to the market for a long time. Due to these reasons, many investors have turned away from the market.”

However, Saiful Islam, President of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh (DBA), is optimistic that the market will turn around soon.

He said, “The annual fee for maintaining BO accounts of investors has been reduced. This will help retain investors. Moreover, the regulatory body is taking several steps to improve the market in the long term. When these start to be reflected, investor confidence will also increase.”

Analyzing the CDBL data, it has been found that out of a total of 16,32,227 BO accounts at the end of September, the number of male BO accounts stood at 1,241,476. At the end of December last year, it was 1,261,198. That is, the number of male BO accounts decreased by 19,722 in the nine months.

The number of female BO accounts decreased by 10,735 in the nine months under discussion. The number of female BO account holders was 4,3755 at the end of last December. This decreased to 3,93,200 at the end of September 30.

Meanwhile, the number of BO accounts of investors in Bangladesh stood at 1,590,695 at the end of September. At the end of last December, which was 16,18,262. That is, in nine months, the BO accounts of domestic investors have decreased by 27,567.

During the period under discussion, the BO accounts of foreigners and expatriate Bangladeshis have decreased by 2,890. At the end of last September 30, this number has decreased to 43,801. In December last year, which was 46,691.