Now investors have to invest at least Tk 50,000 for the IPO quota

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission building in Dhaka.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday increased the minimum investment requirement in the stock markets from Tk20,000 to Tk50,000 for general investors to take advantage of the IPO quota.

The minimum investment for non-resident Bangladeshis has been set at Tk 1 lakh.

The BSEC made the decision at a commission meeting chaired by its chairman, Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam.

On May 23, the BSEC increased the minimum investment requirements in the stock markets from Tk 1 crore to Tk 3 crore for Eligible Investors (EIs) to receive an IPO quota.

The minimum investment for Approved Pension Funds, Approved Provident Funds and Approved Bonus Funds has been raised from Tk 50 lakh to Tk 1.5 crore.

The terms are mentioned in the approval letter of each IPO prospectus.

The regulator made the decision to increase the flow of funds on the exchange.

The market has been in the doldrums for the past five months due to various economic issues.

Eligible investors, including mutual funds, enjoy a 25 per cent quota in IPOs using the fixed price method and book building method under the BSEC public offering rules.

The non-resident Bangladeshis will get 5 percent and the general investors can get up to 70 percent of the IPO quota facility under fixed and bookbuilding methods.