Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation, a listed non-bank financial institution in Bangladesh, recently announced that it has decided to change its name by adding PLC as a suffix. 

DBH is not alone.

Many other companies listed on the stock markets in the country have announced to ditch the suffix "Limited" or "Ltd" in order to assume "PLC" or "Public Limited Company" in the last few months.

They include Crown Cement, Runner Automobiles, Premier Cement Mills, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Citizens Bank, United Commercial Bank, Unique Hotel & Resorts, and Walton Hi-Tech Industries.

A PLC is a public company and is the equivalent of a US publicly traded company that carries the Inc. or corporation designation.

The use of the PLC abbreviation after the name of a company communicates to investors and to anyone dealing with the company that it is a publicly traded corporation.

In Bangladesh, the companies are switching to the PLC suffix in order to comply with the amended Company Act 1994. The amendment was made in 2020.

"The changing of the name will not bring about any extra benefits. It will only make it easier for people to realise that the company is publicly listed and the number of its share is limited," said Md Rafiqul Islam, company secretary of Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC.

The electronic giant changed its suffix in January last year.

Alam said most companies were awaiting a move from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to change the suffix of all of the listed companies. However, some companies are taking the step to switch to "PLC" from "Ltd" proactively.

According to the amended Company Act, publicly listed companies would have to carry the PLC suffix after their names.

Private limited companies will continue to use the "Limited" or "Ltd" suffix, while one-person companies will use the OPC designation.

For non-profit cooperatives and companies, there is no need to use any suffixes in their names.