Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Number of BO (beneficiary owner’s) accounts increased by over 6.00 percent to close at above 0.15 million in last four months mainly due to conversion of omnibus accounts into separate BO ones.

The officials of Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) said among newly opened BO accounts about 77, 644 BO accounts were opened by merchant banks for their clients who so far continued daily trading under omnibus accounts.

As per CDBL data, total number of BO accounts has stood at around 2.6 million on March 14 last.

On November 08, 2012 total number of BO accounts was above 2.43 million. As a result, above 0.15 million BO accounts were opened in this period.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) asked merchant banks to convert their clients’ omnibus accounts into separate BO ones by February 28, 2013.

The CDBL officials said about 77,644 BO accounts have been opened by merchant banks within March 14 following the directive issued by the BSEC.

BBN/SSR/AD-17Mar13-1:20 pm (BST)