Customers of 9 NBFIs will get their money back even before Ramadan: Governor

The individual depositors of nine non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) that are going to be liquidated will get their principal back by next February, before Ramadan. Governor Ahsan H. Mansur shared this information at a press conference at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters on Monday (January 5).



The Governor stated that the legal process of liquidation for these institutions will begin this week.

Under the newly enacted Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025 last December, the central bank's board approved the closure of these financial institutions.

The nine NBFIs being liquidated are FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC), Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, GSP Finance, Prime Finance, Aviva Finance, Peoples Leasing, and International Leasing.

According to central bank data, the total deposits in these institutions amount to 153.7 billion taka. Of this, individual deposits constitute 35.25 billion taka, and deposits from banks and corporate customers amount to 118.45 billion taka.

Officials of the central bank have stated that the government has verbally approved nearly 50 billion taka to return depositors' money. The governor said that asset valuation of the institutions will begin this week. After the asset valuation, it will be understood whether their assets are negative or positive. Based on that valuation, a decision will be made on whether shareholders will receive anything. Forensic audits will detect fraud in the merged banks, Governor Ahsan H. Mansur said, noting that forensic audits will be conducted again in the five banks undergoing the merger process. The audits will identify officials who were involved in irregularities and fraud during the previous government. The governor warned that those proven responsible may lose their jobs. He mentioned that in the past two days, depositors have withdrawn 10.7 billion taka from the banks set to merge, while 4.4 billion taka has been newly deposited during the same period. He said that a total of 13,314 transactions were made in the past two days. The amount withdrawn is much less than our concern anticipated.

Among the five banks, Exim Bank had the highest withdrawal of 660 million taka.

The governor said that depositors' confidence has not been completely destroyed, as new deposits are also coming in at the same time. He assured that those who are making new deposits will be able to withdraw their money at any time.

At the press conference, it was announced that the new large commercial bank formed through the merger, 'United Islami Bank PLC,' will start operations on January 19.

The governor stated that although the new bank will be privately managed, its ownership will temporarily remain with the government. Within three years, ownership will be transferred to a suitable investor.