The Bangladesh Bank has issued a notice instructing non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to undergo the necessary legal procedures to replace the suffix “Limited” with PLC (Public Limited Company). By adopting the PLC suffix, companies in Bangladesh can comply with the updated legislation. A PLC designation signifies that a company is publicly traded, similar to the “Inc.” or “corporation” designation used by publicly traded companies in the United States. The use of the PLC abbreviation communicates to investors and stakeholders that the company is a publicly traded corporation.
According to the Bangladesh Bank notice, NBFIs will need to amend their Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association to adopt the PLC suffix. Currently, there are 35 NBFIs operating in Bangladesh, with various ownership structures, including government-owned, state-run bank subsidiaries, private domestic initiatives, and joint ventures. NBFIs rely on diverse funding sources such as term deposits, credit facilities from banks and other NBFIs, call money, bonds, and securitization. However, they are restricted from issuing cheques, pay orders, or demand drafts, receiving demand deposits, and engaging in foreign exchange financing.