Country’s bourses don’t have any single worker although officials of the same have received around Tk 10 crore a year illegally in the name of workers welfare.
A report prepared by DSE independent director Salma Nasreen has found that the fund namely “Workers Profit Participation Fund (WPPF)” created and enjoyed by officials since beginning of both the Dhaka and the Chittagong Stock Exchanges.
According to the Labour Act of 2006, a company can form workers welfare fund with 5 percent of the company’s net profit. The report presented on July 12 at the DSE board meeting on the evaluation of officers and employees performance was reveled.
The report said Tk 6. 51 crore was formed as workers welfare in the last 2018-19 financial year by DSE from share transactions and distributed among all of its 359 officers and employees. And simultaneously Tk 2.85 crore has been received by all the 86 officers and employees at the rate of around Tk 3 lakh 31 thousand each.
A DSE member told Business Mirror preferring anonymity told Business Mirror that “the DSE do not have any workers here. Everyone does intellectual jobs. The salary of the peons here is Tk 30-35 thousand. Even then a regular labour fund is being formed and distributed.”
Bangladesh Capital Market Investors Unity Council President Mizanur Rashid Chowdhury told that it was very sad that the stock exchange officials were enjoying money by setting up a fund in the name of the workers’ welfare. “When several million investors have become almost bankrupt due to the failure of stock exchanges including the regulatory body BSEC, they are being further looted through such irregularities. The government should take immediate action in this regard,” he added.
Meanwhile, the country’s main stock exchange, Dhaka Stock Exchange has hired high-paid officials and employees, but business is not improving. As a result, shareholders are not getting the benefit of demutualisation. In addition, DSE has additional 70-80 manpower, according to the report.
Until the financial year 2012-13, both the stock exchanges of the country were non-profit organisations. However, on November 21, 2013, it was demutualised and transformed into a for-profit organisation. Since the financial year 2014-15, both the stock exchanges were liable to distribute dividends.
The DSE came into being 54 years ago and Chittagong Stock Exchange was established for about 25 years. Even in their long journeys, the management of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges could not stand on their own business.
