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Banks in Bangladesh

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Bangladesh Bank is the Central Bank of Bangladesh and the chief regulatory authority in the sector. The banking system is composed of four state-owned commercial banks, five specialized development banks, thirty eight private commercial Banks and nine foreign commercial banks. The Nobel-prize winning Grameen Bank is a specialized micro-finance institution, which revolutionized the concept of micro-credit and contributed greatly towards poverty reduction and the empowerment of women in Bangladesh.

Central bank: Pursuant to Bangladesh Bank Order, 1972 the Government of Bangladesh reorganized the Dhaka branch of the State Bank of Pakistan as the central bank of the country, and named it Bangladesh Bank with retrospective effect from 16 December 1971.

Banks: After the independence, banking industry in Bangladesh started its journey with 6 Nationalized commercialized banks, 2 State owned Specialized banks and 3 Foreign Banks. In the 1980s banking industry achieved significant expansion with the entrance of private banks. Now, banks in Bangladesh are primarily of two types:

Scheduled Banks: The banks which get license to operate under Bank Company Act, 1991 (Amended in 2003) are termed as Scheduled Banks. Non-Scheduled Banks: The banks which are established for special and definite objective and operate under the acts that are enacted for meeting up those objectives, are termed as Non-Scheduled Banks. These banks cannot perform all functions of scheduled banks.

State-owned commercial banks: State-owned are functioning as nationalised. Here is the list –

Private commercial banks
Private banks are the highest growth sector due to the dismal performances of government banks (above). They tend to offer better service and products. Here is the list –

There are 8 Islamic Commercial Banks:

Foreign commercial banks: 9 foreign commercial banks are operating in Bangladesh. These are:

Specialized development banks: 4 specialized banks are now operating which were established for specific objectives like agricultural or industrial development. These banks are also fully or majorly owned by the Government of Bangladesh.

Land development banks: Progoti Co-operative Land Development Bank Limited (progoti Bank)Non-banking financial institutions

  • Uttara Finance and Investments Limited
  • United Leasing Company Limited (ULCL)
  • Union Capital Limited
  • The UAE-Bangladesh Investment Co. Ltd
  • Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial & Agricultural Investment Company Limited (SABINCO)
  • Reliance Finance Limited
  • Prime Finance & Investment Ltd
  • Premier Leasing & Finance Limited
  • Phoenix Finance and Investments Limited
  • People’s Leasing and Financial Services Ltd
  • National Housing Finance and Investments Limited
  • National Finance Ltd
  • MIDAS Financing Ltd. (MFL)
  • LankaBangla Finance Ltd.
  • Islamic Finance and Investment Limited
  • International Leasing and Financial Services Limited
  • Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL)¿
  • Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Limited(IPDC)
  • Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC) Limited
  • IDLC Finance Limited
  • Hajj Finance Company Limited
  • GSP Finance Company (Bangladesh) Limited (GSPB)
  • First Lease Finance & Investment Ltd.
  • FAS Finance & Investment Limited
  • Fareast Finance & Investment Limited
  • Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DBH)
  • Bay Leasing & Investment Limited
  • Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Limited (BIFC)
  • Bangladesh Finance & Investment Co. Ltd.
  • Agrani SME Finance Co. Ltd.