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Fresh move to float shares of 32 insurance cos

JASIM UDDIN KHAN
The government has initiated a fresh move to expedite the process of floating 32 non-listed insurance company's shares worth about Tk 243 crore in the capital market in order to bring discipline in the insurance sector.
"Flotation of 60 percent shares of the 32 insurance companies will help increase options for investors to pour money in the 'issue deficient' share market," a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce said.
Sources said the country's 22 general insurance companies out of 43 and ten life insurance companies out of 17 failed to issue initial public offering (IPO) despite repeated requests from the ministry and department concerned.
The Department of Insurance (DoI) earlier imposed a fine of about Tk 3.05 crore and issued showcause notices to the insurance
companies for their failure in floating IPOs in the capital market.
According to the ministry source, 25 out of the 32 companies had applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for floating IPO but only five of them were permitted to go into public.
The SEC refused 13 companies for having deficit or cumulative losses on their valuation balance sheets while seven companies did not even apply to the SEC.
The ministry in a meeting yesterday with Commerce Secretary Siddiqur Rahman in the chair again asked the insurance companies to complete the formalities as soon as possible.
During the meeting, owners of the companies and leaders of the insurance association urged the government to exempt the penalties.
M Shamsul Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Insurance
Association, said they are pressing the association members hard to complete all formalities by June this year.
"All the companies must complete issuing IPO by this year otherwise the association will take stern action against the defaulting companies," Islam added.
According to the Insurance Law 1958, an insurance company has to issue IPO within three years of registration. The company has to offload 60 per cent of its paid-up capital of Tk 15 crore for a general insurance company and Tk 7.5 crore for a life insurance company to the capital market.
Earlier, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Commerce had directed the companies to offload their shares to the capital market by April this year which the companies failed to comply with.