Aiming to facilitate foreign exchange transactions related to foreign investments in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Bank has decided that authorized dealers (ADs) are permitted to retain foreign currency received from foreign investors. ADs can open foreign currency (FC) accounts in the names of local companies, which will issue shares in compliance with regulatory instructions. Under the […]

The Bank Deposit Insurance (Amendment) Bill has been introduced to strengthen measures aimed at safeguarding the interests of depositors. Provisions include that if a bank or financial institution fails to pay premiums to the central bank’s Deposit Protection Trust Fund for two consecutive terms, they will be prohibited from accepting deposits. Previously, the regulation did […]

When banks send remittances of income in favor of non-resident institutions, they have been deducting tax under Section 56 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1984 at different rates for different customers. In an effort to standardize tax deductions for digital marketing (income from ads on the internet and social media) and broadcast advertising (income from […]

Under the 2020 amendment of the Companies Act 1994, all public limited companies must add “PLC” at the end of their company name. Therefore, they have to modify their memorandum and articles of association accordingly. In order to identify public limited companies, Bangladesh Bank has issued a circular based The circular issued by the Bangladesh […]

EDF loans from the Bangladesh Bank are repayable by authorized dealer (AD) banks within 180 days from the date of disbursement, which can be extended up to 270 days. The circular specifies that for loans extended beyond the 180 days, the interest rate prevailing at the time of such extension will be applicable for the […]

OBOs are allowed to place funds with their DBUs in an amount up to 25% of the total regulatory capital of the bank to settle import payments for capital machinery, industrial raw materials, and other imports by the government. The circular specifies a relaxation of the limit to bring further flexibility for external transactions, allowing […]

Bangladesh Bank stated that it has found that some companies, individuals, and firms that secured loans under the EDF against shipment orders but failed to repatriate the export proceeds were still accessing credit facilities under the EFPF. Per the circular, such companies, individuals, and firms will not be eligible for any new loans against the […]

Aiming to mitigate cyber risks and maintain the overall stability of the financial sector, the Bangladesh Bank has issued guidelines on cloud computing, which apply to banks, non-banking financial institutions, mobile financial service providers, payment and settlement systems, payment system operators, and other financial service providers. The guidelines aim to ensure business continuity, resilience, and […]

In order to stop the long delays in the repayment of EDF loans, the Bangladesh Bank will charge penalty interest (compensation under Shariah-based Islamic banking) at 4% above the prevailing interest rate to authorized dealers (“AD”) on all overdue EDF loan repayment amounts for the period they are overdue. In addition, the circular specifies that […]

Aiming to maintain an uninterrupted flow of money required for power generation to import fuel oil and other raw materials in the power sector, any organization or group generating power can borrow any amount from a bank. The central bank has waived, for the purpose of lending to electricity producers, the provision of Section 26B(1) […]

The Bangladesh Bank has instructed authorized dealer banks and money changers to verify the amount of foreign currency a customer has spent against their passport before endorsing fresh foreign currency. As per the circular, before releasing foreign currency under a traveler’s passport, banks and money changers must verify the number of dollars spent by the […]

Aiming to facilitate inward remittances, the threshold for having to declare inward remittances on Form C has been raised from US$10,000 to US$20,000 or its equivalent. In addition, no declaration is required for inward remittances sent by Bangladeshi nationals working abroad.

Banks are required to maintain a general provision of 1% on unclassified amounts for loans to brokerage houses, merchant banks, and stock dealers. Previously it was 2%.

The circular specifies that until further instruction, the Bangladesh Bank will charge an interest rate of 3.00% on EDF loans to authorized dealer banks while authorized dealer banks are to charge interest to manufacturer-exporters of 4.50%.

On 5 October 2021, the Royal Government of Cambodia issued the Law on Competition (“Competition Law”) with the aim to provide a more fair and harmonized business environment. Subsequently, on 17 February 2022, Sub-Decree 37 was issued to form the Cambodia Competition Committee (“CCC”) as the authority to enforce implementation of the Competition Law. Furthering […]

The Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) decided to grant foreign companies an exemption from mandatory forex conversion in its meeting no.78/2022. In this regard, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued letter no. FE-1/2861 dated 30 December 2022 concerning the resolution of the FESC’s meeting, which instructs the AD licensed banks to comply with such […]

Bangladesh Bank has issued further guidelines on its BDT25,000 crores refinancing scheme that was introduced in July 2022 to support CMSMEs. The scheme allows for banks and financial institutions to receive funds at 2% interest for lending to CMSMEs at up to 7% interest. Since its inception, Bangladesh Bank noticed that some banks and financial […]

Bangladesh Bank provided clarification on the opening of NITAs in the name of NRBs. Per the circular, authorized dealers (“ADs”) should obtain the following documents and information from applicants: For opening NITAs in the name of non-resident foreign nationals or institutions, ADs should establish and distribute a unified set of documents to their branches at […]

Bangladesh Bank has allowed mobile financial service providers to repatriate (conversion of foreign currency into local currency) export income and inward remittance. All authorized dealers will provide encashment certificates to MFS providers against inward remittance, on account of information technology-enabled services exports. In order to make it easier to receive foreign exchange, Bangladesh Bank issued […]

To strengthen the compliance with the report from the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) has issued its bulletin no. 10/2022 on 31st October 2022 required that all border trade transactions must be settled only through a licensed bank (“Bulletin 10”). Bulletin 10 also mentions that the importers are allowed to acquire […]