Bangladesh Bank has made it easier for expatriates to invest in private limited and public limited companies in the country. From now on, expatriates can buy shares of these companies without the permission of Bangladesh Bank. A maximum of Tk 10 lakh can be invested in this process. However, this opportunity will not be applicable to all types of companies. This facility will be available only to companies that are not listed on the stock exchange.

On Monday (January 27), Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

According to the circular, if you want to invest in this process, you must bring foreign currency through banking channels. Only after this foreign currency is monetized, the company concerned can issue shares in the name of the investor. Proof of the equity, i.e. shares, for which this foreign currency has been brought, must be provided through documents.

A declaration must be submitted to the Foreign Investment Department (FEID) of Bangladesh Bank within 14 days of issuing shares. The necessary information must be submitted to Bangladesh Bank. There, the name and address of the shareholder, number of shares, date of issue, face value per share, share premium, reporting ID used online, total value of shares issued, amount of investment in foreign currency, date of bringing the investment to the country, name of the investor’s country must be mentioned in the return. In addition, the account number suitable for transactions through SWIFT, e-mail as a medium of short message, signature must be mentioned.

The instructions say that foreign investment must be confirmed before the issue of shares. The shareholder and the source and country of investment must be mentioned. Bangla Desh Bank will scrutinize the report sent by the country’s authorized dealer (AD) bank and issue instructions within 14 days.