Time running out for 3 NBFIs for listing
Three joint ventures get waiver
Three non-listed financial institutions are likely to miss the deadline to go public within this year, said officials of the companies.
However, three joint venture companies got waiver from mandatory listing upon request with the central bank, the regulator.
The remaining two non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), out of such eight non-listed companies, are working to go public within the stipulated time set at December 31.
There are 29 leasing and finance companies operating in Bangladesh.Of those,21are already listed with the bourses. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a directive asking the non-listed companies to go public within the deadline to avoid any regulatory actions.
The central bank has waived Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company (SABINCO), UAE-Bangladesh Investment Company (UBICO) and state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) from listing, officials of the BB and the respective companies said.
“Yes, the Bangladesh Bank has waived us from listing,” said Mumlook Hossain, company secretary of UBICO.
“They (the UAE) don't want to get listed,” Hossain said.
An official of SABINCO also mentioned the same reason.
UBICO and SABINCO are the joint ventures between Bangladesh government and the UAE and Saudi governments respectively. The third company that has got the waiver is IDCOL, a fully state-owned finance company.
The other five non-listed companies are Industrial and Infrastructure Development Company (IIDFC), National Finance (former Self Employment Finance), GSP Finance, Reliance Finance (former Oman-Bangladesh Leasing and Finance) and Fareast Finance and Investment.
Of the five, IIDFC and GSP Finance are working to float shares by the year-end, while Reliance Finance, National Finance and Fareast Finance may miss the deadline, according to officials in the companies.
“We won't be able to offload shares within the deadline. We are in talks with the Bangladesh Bank for time extension,” said Pran Gouranga Dey, a senior official of Reliance Finance.
National Finance is yet to decide on the issue, said AKM Shamsuddin, managing director of the company.
“At first we will have to raise our paid-up capital to Tk 50 crore,” said Shamsuddin.
Fareast Finance has not confirmed yet whether the company would be able to offload shares by this year, said a senior official.
“We submitted our IPO proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission in October last year,” said Ujjal Nandi, chief financial officer of IIDFC. “But we are yet to get any reply from the SEC.”
GSP Finance has prepared its IPO (initial public offering) proposal and already appointed an issue manager, said M Raihan, an official of the company.