Tech glitch in CDS halts spot trading of 7 DSE firms
Star Business Report
Spot trading of seven companies on the Dhaka bourse was halted for almost all the trading hours yesterday due to technical glitch in the Central Depository System (CDS) that forced the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) to fail to run the 'end of day' method needed for completing share transaction settlement.Halted from the beginning of the trading hours at 10:00 am, the transactions on the spot market resumed at 1:45 pm, just 15 minutes before market closing. The normal trading, however, continued without any disruption. The companies that faced the halt are: Brac Bank, Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (Desco), Summit Power, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, Progressive Life Insurance, Standard Bank and Prime Life Insurance. The halt also led the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to witness a below Tk 100 crore turnover in two and half months. The total turnover on the DSE yesterday came down to Tk 92.98 crore. The premier bourse last witnessed a Tk 82.96 crore turnover on May 13. Expressing concern over the halt, the DSE authority said the CDBL, operator of the CDS, should immediately upgrade the electronic transaction system for smooth settlement. The DSE officials said the capacity of CDS has been reduced as the number of shares and transactions in terms of value and volume have grown up gradually. In 2004, the number of shares on the DSE was around 1 billion and this year the number stood at 2 billion, the DSE officials cited. Talking to The Daily Star, CDBL Managing Director MH Samad said when the CDS was introduced, the market size was very little with a daily average turnover of Tk 20 to Tk 30 crore. But, he said, now the daily average turnover crossed Tk 100 crore and the transaction volume also marked a rise. Besides, the number of listed companies also grew up in the last two-three years and for these reasons the CDBL often faces technical glitches during the share transaction settlement, he said. "Normally it takes one year for upgrading the CDS. However, we are working how fast the upgrading could be completed," he said. Meanwhile, the DSE indices closed higher yesterday led by the share price hike of pharmaceuticals, bank, engineering and leather sectors. The DSE General Index rose by 9.93 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 2394.11 points, while the DSE All Share Price Index grew by 21.81 points, or 1.12 percent, to end at 1958.64 points. Of the issues traded, 136 advanced and 47 declined with 10 unchanged. A total of 6,166,876 shares were traded on the bourse.
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