Investors asked to monitor automated alerts to avert fraudulence by brokers
In a move to prevent embezzlement, and brokers selling off clients’ shares without notification, the depository service provider has been daily sending parallel updates to investors
Keeping an eye on the automated email, SMS updates on transactions and balances in beneficiary owners' (BO) accounts alone can help avert fraudulent activities with your asset in brokerage firms, said stakeholders at a workshop on Tuesday.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) organised the event titled "Strengthening the Security of Fund and Securities of Investors" on the backdrop of the recent fraudulent incidents in three brokerage firms whose owners or employees left their clients in the dark by embezzling their shares and cash.
Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) Managing Director Shuvra Kanti Choudhury urged all the parties – brokerage firm owners and investors – to regularly cross-check the updates from brokers with the ones sent also by the CDBL.
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In a move to prevent embezzlement, and brokers selling off clients' shares without notification, the depository service provider has been daily sending parallel updates to investors.
In the last two months, they opened only 16,000 emails out of 5 lakh to go through their portfolio statements. The statistics thus reflect the investors' lack of awareness.
On the other hand, CDBL has also been sending electronic notifications about off-market transactions to brokerage firm owners. Out of 472 brokerage firms, only 288 subscribed to the notifications which reflect the lack of awareness among brokerage firm owners, said Shuvra Kanti Choudhury.
Without using the foolproof systems, no brokerage firm owner should blame any other person in cases of fraudulence, he added.
He also urged brokers to serve only authentic clients and close down the BO accounts opened with fake information.
Top officials of the DSE and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) alongside the brokerage community leaders said client asset embezzlement by three stockbrokers is not the face of the brokerage industry, but there must be no such case in the future.
In the event, DSE officials elaborately presented how to follow the securities transactions, settlement and depository system works, and safety measures.
