Stock Market, Business, Economy
The history of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dates back to 1952 when the local government deemed it necessary to establish a stock exchange because Pakistani shares and securities were prohibited from being bought or sold on the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE). Up until this point, Pakistan had been trading quite profitably on the CSE and had no need to establish their own stock exchange department. In response to the prohibition the Provincial Industrial Advisory Council made the decision to establish a stock exchange in Eastern Pakistan.
Initially it was suggested that instead of creating an independent stock exchange, a branch of the Karachi Stock Exchange be opened at Dhaka. However this proposal was very unpopular with representatives from East Pakistan who felt that it was necessary to create a completely new stock exchange in Dhaka. This is what eventually happened with different members of the stock exchange purchasing membership cards at the price of RS.2000. There were two proposed locations for the stock exchange – Dhaka and Chittagong – but in the end it was decided that Dhaka was the most suitable location. An organizing committee was established to further set up the DSE and invitations were sent out to determine what sort of interest there would be in the proposed stock exchange. The response was overwhelming and on the 7th of July 1953 a meeting was held with roughly 100 interested persons attending. Of these, eight men were selected to promote the stock exchange the DSE was officially formed shortly afterwards. The DSE was moved to its current location in 1959.
Currently the main functions of the Dhaka Stock Exchange are the listing of companies, the settlement of trading, the providing of a screen based automated trading of listed securities, market administration, market surveillance, market control, the production of a monthly review publication, the granting of approval to transactions, the monitoring of activities of listed companies to ensure that they stay in line with listing regulations, the investigation of grievances, the announcement of information about listed companies and the maintenance and use of the investors protection fund.