Transactions from PFI Securities suspended
General customers will not be able to transact from PFI Securities Limited as the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) has suspended the depository participation (DP) operation of the brokerage firm.
In a letter sent on 17 November, the CDBL said DP operation of PFI securities will remain suspended from 20 November due to failure of submitting the consolidated customer account clearance certificate and DP registration certificate renewal fee.
The letter also states that the suspension order will be lifted once the company submits the clearance certificate from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) after submitting the consolidated customer account clearance certificate and DP registration certificate renewal fee.
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According to sources, a depository participant is described as an agent of the depository. Depository participants are the intermediaries between the depository and the investors. And this depository or shares stay with the CDBL.
So for share trading, a DP operation licence has to be obtained from the CDBL. As this licence is suspended, the company will no longer receive services from the CDBL. So shares cannot be traded and the beneficiary owner (BO) account holders of the firm will be in trouble.
PFI Securities Managing Director Kazi Fariduddin Ahmed could not be reached for his comments in this regard.
It is an associated company of Prime Finance and Investment Limited. PFI Securities is a stock dealer and stock brokerage company registered as a member with both Dhaka and Chattogram bourses.
The involvement of PFI Securities was found in an investigation into the embezzlement of Prime Islami Life Insurance and Fareast Islami Life Insurance. The embezzlement was investigated by the stock market regulator and the insurance regulator.
Even the Anti-Corruption Commission has filed a case against the managing director of PFI Securities for allegedly embezzling money from Fareast Finance.
Earlier in 2018, the BSEC fined PFI Securities Tk25 lakh for deficits in consolidated customer accounts and irregularities in stock market investments.
