Shares of NBFIs on closure list surge
Market insiders said investors reacted to the possibility that a new government after the upcoming election might reconsider or delay the closures, triggering strong buying interest.
Shares of eight non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) flagged for closure by Bangladesh Bank saw sharp gains today (9 February), with prices rising between 10% and 10.42% on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The central bank had in December last year announced plans to shut down nine NBFIs under the Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025, the country's first comprehensive framework for merging, restructuring, or liquidating failed banks and financial institutions. The nine included FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC), Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, GSP Finance, Prime Finance, Aviva Finance, Peoples Leasing, and International Leasing.
The closure decision came amid persistent irregularities and weak management, with default loan ratios ranging between 75% and 98%. However, BB later excluded GSP Finance, Prime Finance, and BIFC from the closure list, granting them three to six months to improve financial indicators.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Market insiders said investors reacted to the possibility that a new government after the upcoming election might reconsider or delay the closures, triggering strong buying interest. Earlier, the announcement of the closures had sent share prices of these institutions plunging, causing heavy losses for investors.
Today, FAS Finance rose 10.31%, BIFC 8.33%, Premier Leasing 9.78%, Fareast Finance 10%, GSP Finance 10%, Prime Finance 10%, Peoples Leasing 10.42%, and International Leasing 10.42%.
Bangladesh Bank said a total of Tk15,370 crore in deposits remains stuck in these nine institutions, including Tk3,525 crore from individual depositors and Tk11,845 crore from banks and corporate entities. Among individual deposits, Peoples Leasing holds the largest amount at Tk1,405 crore, followed by Aviva Finance (Tk809 crore), International Leasing (Tk645 crore), Prime Finance (Tk328 crore), and FAS Finance (Tk105 crore).
Seven of the nine NBFIs currently report a negative net asset value per share of Tk95, meaning shareholders would receive nothing if assets were liquidated.
Experts said years of weak oversight, related-party lending, failure to recover defaulted loans, and inflated asset valuations left many of these institutions effectively insolvent.
