The interim government has revived the process to make three nationalised commercial banks (NCBs) – Sonali, Janata and Agrani – public limited companies during its tenure. It is expected that the finance ministry would soon submit a proposal for the corporatisation of these three NCBs to the Cabinet Division, which would forward it to the council of advisers to the interim government for approval.

The corporatisation proposal was vetted and cleared by the law ministry in June 2006 after changes in the memorandum and articles of association of the three banks. The finance ministry will also have to sign a vendors agreement with the board of directors of each of the three banks. The finance ministry will be relieved from all sorts of monitoring and administrative functions after signing the agreement as the full operational autonomy will be delegated to the board of directors.

The chairman of the banks will be appointed from among the directors and their choices, according to the amended articles of association. The boards will appoint the managing directors but the appointments will have to be endorsed by the Bangladesh Bank. The number of directors will be between seven and nine.

The chairman of the banks will be appointed from among the directors and their choices, according to the amended articles of association. The boards will appoint the managing directors but the appointments will have to be endorsed by the Bangladesh Bank. The number of directors will be between seven and nine.

SEC approves issuance of IPO by a PCB and 2 firms

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved on January 23 to raise Tk 980 million from the public through initial public offerings (IPOs) by Premier Bank (one of the Private Commercial Banks) and two other companies, namely Golden Sun and Union Capital.

Premier Bank will raise around Tk 845 million while Golden Sun will raise Tk 60 million and Union Capital Tk 75 million. The Premier Bank will float around 8.45 million shares of Tk 100 each to raise the amount while Golden Sun and Union Capital will float 7.5 million and 6 million shares of Tk 10 each.