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Legal Updates

Latest legal updates in Bangladesh

Bangladesh gets its first Private Equity, Venture Capital financing regulations

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) by a notification on June 22, 2015 introduced the regulation. Previously there was no regulation regarding Private Equity and Venture Capital financing in Bangladesh. The rules called Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Alternative Investment) Rules, 2015 (the Rules) became effective from June 22, 2015.

Foreign owned companies exempted from going public

Foreign companies and the joint venture companies with foreign investment are exempted by Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commission from the requirement of converting into a public limited company when the paid-up capital exceeds BDT 40 crore and issuing initial public offering when the paid-up capital reaches BDT 50 crore.

New list of required documents for 18A and 18B approval from Bangladesh Bank

Update September 15, 2015: Recently Bangladesh Parliament has amended the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act 1947. The requirement of and 18A and 18B Approval from Bangladesh Bank has been removed. 

You can read about the amendment here.

eTIN Number now required for foreign Directors to incorporate a company in Bangladesh

Update 21/10/2015: after to the recent amendment in the Finance Act 2015 and recent meetings between RJSC and NBR, it is no longer required for the foreign directors to obtain TIN.

New tax rates for City Corporations introduced by Government

Update 06 Feb 2016: Government introduced a new Tax Schedule. You can learn about it here.

Bangladesh Government has introduced new tax rates for all the City Corporations. By a Gazette Notification on March 2, 2015, government has introduced the new City Corporation Ideal Tax Schedule 2015. The Schedule fixed the highest rates of tax that any City Corporations are allowed to impose.

You can no longer use the word “Group” on your company name

For whatever reason, if you want to register a company with the word “group” in its name, well, good luck with that. Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) on February 9, 2015 through a notice requested not to apply for name clearance with the word “group”.

Bangladesh introduced new law for hotel and restaurant

Bangladesh parliament has passed a new law for regulating the hotels and restaurants. It was published on November 27, 2014. Previous law was the ‘Bangladesh Hotels and Restaurants Ordinance, 1982’. The old law become invalid because of the judgement in Civil Appeal no. 48/2011 by the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.

Bangladesh Registration Rules 2014 published

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on October 27, 2014 published the new ‘Bangladesh Registration Rules, 2014’. It will replace the Bangladesh Registration Rules, 1973. The new rules will become effective from November 16, 2014.

Foreign shareholders can now remit fair value of their sold shares

From now on Bangladesh Bank will allow foreign shareholders to repatriate fair value of shares in unlisted public companies and private limited companies as on the date of sale based on appropriate combination of three valuation approaches (net asset value approach, market value approach and discounted cash flow approach) depending on the nature of the company.

Rules for opening branch of Foreign University in Bangladesh introduced

Education Ministry on April 26, 2014 through an official notification introduced the new rules. It is published as rules under the Private Universities Act 2010.

Pursuant to the rules, no branch or study center of any foreign university will operate in Bangladesh without prior approval of University Grant Commission (UGC).