The Bangladesh Bank (BB) began hearings yesterday with the top executives of nine non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to determine whether there are grounds to oppose their planned liquidation.
The central bank had earlier sent letters asking the NBFIs to attend hearings scheduled yesterday and today at its Dhaka headquarters. Representatives from five finance companies attended yesterday’s session.
At the hearings, NBFIs are required to explain why they should not be liquidated, while BB officials present the case for winding them up, according to central bank officials familiar with the matter.
The nine NBFIs facing liquidation are FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC), Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, GSP Finance, Prime Finance, Aviva Finance, People’s Leasing and International Leasing.
In November last year, the BB board approved the liquidation of the institutions under the newly framed Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025, the country’s first comprehensive framework for resolving failing banks and NBFIs.
The ordinance outlines procedures for merging, restructuring or closing distressed institutions and sets out the hierarchy for repaying creditors after assets are sold.
Together, the nine institutions account for 52 percent, or Tk 25,089 crore, of total defaulted loans in the NBFI sector as of the end of 2024.
BB data show that as of September 2025, the country’s 35 NBFIs held Tk 29,408.66 crore in non-performing loans (NPLs), equivalent to 37.11 percent of their total disbursed loans of Tk 79,251.11 crore. The sector’s NPL ratio was 35.52 percent a year earlier.
Industry insiders attribute the surge in defaults to large-scale irregularities and scams during the previous government.
For instance, according to a BB probe, PK Halder, former managing director of NRB Global Bank (later Global Islami Bank), allegedly embezzled at least Tk 3,500 crore from four NBFIs – People’s Leasing, International Leasing, FAS Finance, and BIFC.
These institutions are now severely distressed, with more than 90 percent of their loan portfolios non-performing.
BB Governor Ahsan H Mansur recently said individual depositors of the nine NBFIs slated for liquidation may get back their principal amounts before Ramadan in February.
Officials said the government has verbally approved around Tk 5,000 crore to repay non-bank depositors.
Central bank data show the nine NBFIs hold Tk 15,370 crore in deposits, of which Tk 3,525 crore belongs to individual depositors and Tk 11,845 crore to banks and corporate clients.
In May last year, BB warned 20 NBFIs with high levels of defaulted loans after they failed to repay depositors.
