Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor assured non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) that the Finance Companies Act 2023’s deposit caps of Tk50 lakh for individuals and Tk1 crore for joint accounts won’t apply to healthy NBFIs. The central bank governor, in a meeting with NBFI leaders, agreed in principle to a relaxed implementation of the new act to avoid harming the industry. However, no concrete decisions were disclosed regarding the extent of the relaxation or which NBFIs would benefit.
Some sources suggest the BB governor is open to exempting NBFIs with not more than 8% non-performing loans from the deposit caps. The stricter law passed in parliament, may be implemented more softly to accommodate industry readiness, including possible extensions for directors and additional time for meeting shareholding requirements. The BB initially expressed rigidity on shareholding exclusivity between banks and NBFIs but is considering intermediate solutions.