"Clients will be able to know the balance of their investment accounts and do certain other things over telephone from now on," Ziaul Haque Khondker, managing director of ICB, told a press briefing in Dhaka yesterday.

Now, ICB and its three subsidiaries -- ICB Capital Management Ltd, ICB Asset Management Company Ltd and ICB Securities Trading Company Ltd -- have more than 50,000 clients including investment account holders.

The ICB has recently started online trading in Sylhet and is now planning to launch similar service in Rajshahi and Barisal to encourage investors to trade in the capital market from their places, Khondker said.

"We have also a plan to float a mutual fund exclusively for non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to encourage them to invest in this country," he added.

The managing director said the subsidiary companies have already started publishing net asset value (NAV) in every 15 days in national dailies and the ICB has also decided to give information to its shareholders.

The ICB made a relaxed offer for its investment account holders who faced huge capital loss during the 1996 capital market boom. Under the offer, ICB waived interest of loans up to 100 percent.

Khondker said about 13,000 account holders have already restructured their accounts accepting this offer, and 49,627 investors have become active now. In 1996, the number of investment account holders of ICB was 58,726.

Khondker also told the briefing the ICB, in its bid to improve corporate governance, filed cases against some companies for not giving declared dividends and holding annual general meetings (AGMs) timely.

The companies include Wata Chemicals Ltd, Excelsior Shoes Ltd, Paragon Leather Ltd and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Ltd.

"And recently we got verdict in our favour," the ICB MD added.

Md Nurul Alam, chief executive officer of ICB Securities Trading Company Ltd, Md Fayekuzzaman, chairman of ICB Asset Management Company Ltd, Khondoker Md Iqbal, CEO of ICB Asset Management Company Ltd, and other senior executives of ICB were also present at the briefing.