Written by The Banking Post
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has reduced the annual maintenance fee for beneficiary owner (BO) accounts to Tk 150 from Tk 450, in a bid to ease costs for small investors and reactivate inactive accounts.
The decision, approved on Tuesday after a public consultation on amendments to the Depository Rules, 2003, will take effect from FY26 following a gazette notification.
Officials said the revision follows repeated requests from market stakeholders, as many investors had refrained from renewing BO accounts due to the high fee, leading to a sharp rise in dormant accounts.
Under the new structure, Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd. (CDBL), depository participants, and BSEC will each receive Tk 50 from the maintenance fee.
The regulator has extended the payment deadline for FY26 until October, as the amendment was finalised after the fiscal year began. However, overdue fees up to FY25 will continue to be collected at the old rate of Tk 450.
As of Tuesday, the number of operable BO accounts stood at over 1.64 million, according to CDBL data. Among them, 1.21 million accounts hold share balances, 373,113 accounts have zero balance, and 64,770 have never been used.
