Stocks
Deceased Person Presented as Insurance Company Director, Resulting in Loan Acquisition
In a remarkable turn of events, an insurance company has been listed in the share market with the name of a deceased individual as its director.
The company has also obtained a loan from a foreign financial institution, pledging the shares of the deceased as collateral. These astonishing revelations have come to attention regarding Rupali Insurance Company Limited, a prominent player in the market. Over the past decade, the company’s management has even acknowledged the presence of the deceased individual as their director, leading to some alterations in the name associated with the position. These intriguing details have been uncovered through a financial investigation.
According to sources, the founder and managing director of Rupali Insurance, Md. Nazim Uddin Khan, who had reportedly passed away in critical condition at Dhaka’s Dhanmondi Nursing Home in May 2012, is currently being seen as the company’s director. However, it has been eleven years since Md. Nazim’s demise, and yet he continues to hold the position of director at Rupali Insurance.
It has been found that Md. Nazim Uddin Khan opened a beneficiary owner’s account (BO account) with EBL Securities Limited in 2010. The BO account number is 1201950039331363. At present, this account holds 21 lakh 15 thousand 802 shares of Rupali Insurance. However, among these shares, 18 lakh 31 thousand 864 shares are identified as being pledged to EBL Securities.
The investigation reveals that these pledged shares have been transferred to Uthara Finance Capital. The circumstances surrounding the pledge of these shares remain unclear, with no conclusive response from either EBL Securities or Rupali Insurance management. Despite the passing of Md. Nazim Uddin Khan in 2012, his wife and children wanted to take over the shares of Rupali Insurance, but the company kept delaying.
According to the report from the Central Information Bureau (CIB), it has been found that there is no loan in the name of Md. Nazim Uddin. This raises the question of who took a loan by pledging Nazim Uddin’s shares. How did Uttara Finance acquire the loan from EBL Securities? And who authorized this loan? No institution has provided satisfactory answers to these questions.
Sources reveal that following a court order, Rupali Insurance granted permission to the successors of the deceased director to claim the shares. However, the beneficiaries have not been able to claim the shares in the name of Nazim Uddin so far. Rupali Insurance, Uttara Finance, and EBL Securities have alleged that they are unable to trace the shares in question. The family of Nazim Uddin Khan sent a letter to the managing director of EBL Securities on May 18th, expressing their concerns. The letter seeks information about when the shares were pledged according to the instructions of the shareholders.
In regard to this matter, Siraj Uddin Khan Mintu, the eldest son of the late Nazim Uddin Khan, stated to Orthosongbad, “My uncle used to be the director of Rupali Insurance at one point. After my father’s demise, my aunt took care of these matters. We were unaware of these issues back then. Now, following the court order, Rupali Insurance has transferred the shares.” Upon contacting EBL Securities after obtaining the transfer, it was revealed that the shares are held in a pledged state.
However, they have not provided any information regarding why the shares are pledged. They have instructed us to request share lock removal from CDBL. Upon contacting CDBL, we were informed that this is not their responsibility but rather they suggested that we file a complaint with them.
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Interestingly, even though Nazim Uddin Khan passed away in 2012, he is still being shown as the director of Rupali Insurance in the company’s 2022 annual report, according to sources. Although Rupali Insurance only refers to him as Nazim Uddin, the annual report does not include a photo of him, despite featuring photos of other directors. Additionally, EBL Securities has allegedly replaced the photo in Nazim Uddin Khan’s BO account, as claimed by his relatives. This fact has also been verified through the investigation conducted by Orthosongbad.
Efforts to contact the Managing Director (MD) of EBL Securities, Mr. Sayadur Rahman, regarding the allegations have been unsuccessful. However, Farhad Morshed Sunny, the responsible employee of the organization, informed Orthosongbad that the account of Md. Nazim Uddin has been suspended in the BSEC (Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission). It was the legal heir who applied for the suspension in the BSEC. We have informed them to lift the suspension order.
According to Mr. Morshed, the client (Md. Nazim Uddin) and Rupali Insurance can provide information on how shares were held (locked). The client’s name does not match the name on the B/O account and the death certificate. Essentially, EBL Securities has no knowledge about this matter.
Farhad Morshed stated that they are not obstructing any assistance. We are obligated to comply with the High Court’s order. However, due to the account suspension, we are unable to provide clarification regarding the shares. Nevertheless, the family of Nazim Uddin claims that they did not submit any application to suspend the account.
To know more, the Managing Director of Uttara Finance Capital Management, Mohammad Shahinur Rahman, stated that it is difficult to speculate on the reasons for the share lock. Shares are typically locked as collateral against loans. Even though we have the share lock, we cannot specify the reason behind it. The primary company can provide that information.
Mohammad Atiqur Rahman, the Secretary of Rupali Insurance Company, informed Orthosongbad that Mr. Nazim Uddin Khan was the Managing Director until 2022, but he is no longer with us. We have no knowledge of his death in 2012. Hence, he continued to be on the board for all these years. Regarding the selection of a Managing Director even after a person’s demise, he stated that it is a matter for the management. I do not wish to discuss these matters over the phone.
In a perplexing turn of events, the question of how a debt was taken out in 2017 when the person had passed away in 2012 remains unanswered. The company secretary stated that he had no knowledge of such a matter and it is only known to those who hold the shares. It is necessary to inquire the company to gather information. However, I was not the company secretary at that time in Rupali Insurance. Nevertheless, we have granted permission for the transfer of shares to the successors of Nazim Uddin Khan. Due to the matter of share transfer being subject to the approval of the board, there has been some delay.
According to Al-Amin, an assistant professor in the Department of Accounting and Information at Dhaka University and a financial analyst, if such incidents occur, they are undoubtedly unpredictable, chaotic, and irregular. It is impossible to take any action without the consent of the board responsible for shareholding and pleas. If such incidents occur, the entire board is held accountable. The reason behind the absence of a board member during a board meeting also needs to be explained. It is not possible to keep the deceased person on the board without the decision of the board. Therefore, the entire board is responsive in this regard.
To know more about this matter, Md. Rezaul Karim, the spokesperson and managing director of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), who stated that he is unaware of the issue. The SRMIC Department of the BSEC is overseeing this matter. If a specific complaint is received, the commission will take legal action against the culprits.
It is worth mentioning that as per Section 377 of the Succession Act of 1957, the High Court ordered to allocate shares of Rupali Insurance to the wife and children of Nazim Uddin Khan. According to the High Court’s directive, his wife, Haji Rokeya Begum, will receive 2 lakh 64 thousand 475 shares. His two sons will receive 4 lakh 62 thousand 831 shares in total, and the four daughters, Rahima Zaman, Fahima Wahid, Shamima Namij, and Sayma Nazim, will each receive 2 lakh 31 thousand 415 shares.
Reviewing the U.S. Stock Markets, the Nasdaq Composite, recorded a decent loss of 1,023 points, reaching a closing value of 16,690 points by the end of the week. Similarly, the S&P 500 index showed a positive trend, losing 240 points to settle at 5,408 points. Meanwhile, DJIA Index experienced a notable hike, adding 1,218 points during the week and concluding at 40,345 points after a week of gaining.
In contrast, Russell 3000 Index saw a loss in week performance, with a slight drop of 141 point to reach 3,077 points by the end of the week.
Moving to Russell 2000 Index, demonstrated a notable lost of 126 points, ending the week at 2,091 points.
In the Outgoing week, the European stock market displayed a mixed performance.
Here is the data on the weekly performance of the European Stock Market, The STOXX Europe 600 index, which is considered a leading benchmark for the European market and covers approximately 90 percent of the market capitalization across 17 countries, reported a loss of 18.49 points to close at 506.56.
The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100, one of the most widely followed indices in Europe, also showed a significant drop, losing 195 points or finishing the session at 8,181.
In Germany, the DAX 30 index, added by 605 points to reach 18,301, while France’s CAC 40 decreased by 278 points to stop at 7,352 at the end of the trading day.
Italy’s FTSE MIB, which covers the top 40 stocks traded on the Milan Stock Exchange, decreased by 1,081 points to 33,291. However, Spain’s IBEX 35, lost by 228 points, to close at 11,173.
A review of South Asian stock markets shows that India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) index BSE Sensex has lost 1,182 points during the week. At the end of the week, the index stood at 82,365 points. On the other hand, the Nifty-50 index of the country’s National Stock Exchange dropped by 383 points last week. At the end of the week, the index stood at 24,852 points.
Pakistan Stock Exchange Index ‘KSE 100’, added 459 points last week. After a week of losing, the index settled at 79,002 points.
On the other hand, The Sri Lankan stock market index loss, and the Colombo Stock Exchange index ‘ASPI’ decreased by 94 points in a week. After a week the index settled at 10,775 points.
Bhutan’s stock market index ‘BSI’ dropped by 9 points hence the index stood at 1,500 points throughout the whole week. Nepal’s ‘NEPSE’ lost 22 points, therefore the index stands at 2,727 points.
Hence Dhaka Stock Exchange: The benchmark index ‘DSEX’ lost by 75.77 points or 1.31 percent, in the outgoing week. At the end of the week, the index stands at 5,728 points.
