BRPD Circular Letter No. 18: Paid-up Capital of branch-based bank-companies and branchless digital bank-companies

Ref No.: BRPD Circular Letter No. 18

Bangladesh Bank
Head Office
Motijheel, Dhaka-1000
Banking Regulation and Policy Department
Bangladesh.

BRPD Circular Letter No. -18 01 Asharh 1430
Date: -----------------------
15 June 2023

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer
All Scheduled Banks operating in Bangladesh.

Dear Sir,

Regarding the maintenance of paid-up capital by branch-based bank-companies and branchless digital bank-companies.

A copy of Notification No.-BRPD(R-1) (Review)717/2023-4628 issued by Bangladesh Bank on 15 June 2023 on the above subject is enclosed herewith for your information and necessary action.

Yours faithfully,

Attachment: 01 (One)

(Md. Harun-or-Rashid)
Director (BRPD)
Phone-9530095

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Bangladesh Bank
Head Office
Dhaka.
Banking Regulation and Policy Department
No.-BRPD(R-1) (Review)717/2023-4628 01 Asharh 1430 Date: ----------------------- 15 June 2023

Notification

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 13 of the Bank Companies Act, 1991, Bangladesh Bank has determined the minimum paid-up capital as BDT 50.00 billion for the establishment of any new bank-company including branch-based bank-companies operating in Bangladesh. Furthermore, in the case of establishing a branchless digital bank-company, Bangladesh Bank has determined the minimum paid-up capital as BDT 125.00 crore [Note: Source says '125.00 koti' which usually means billion in this context given the previous figure, but literally translates to 125 Crore. However, looking at standard regulatory contexts, 125 Crore is very low compared to 50 Billion. Let's look closer at the Bengali text: '১২৫.০০ কোটি টাকা'. In Bengali numbering, 'Koti' is 10 million. So 125 Koti = 1.25 Billion. Wait, the first one is '৫০০.০০ কোটি' which is 500 Crore? No, usually large caps are in Arab/Koror. Let's re-read carefully. '৫০০.০০ কোটি' -> 500 Crore? Or 500 Arab? Standard notation in BD often uses 'Arab' for 100 million and 'Koror' for 10 million. The text says 'কোটি' (Koti). 500 Koti = 5 Billion. 125 Koti = 1.25 Billion.

Let's re-evaluate based on common knowledge vs strict translation.
Strict translation:
'৫০০.০০ কোটি টাকা' = 500.00 Crore Taka = 5 Billion Taka.
'১২৫.০০ কোটি টাকা' = 125.00 Crore Taka = 1.25 Billion Taka.

However, often 'Koror' (Crore) and 'Arab' (Hundred Million) are confused or specific terms used. Let's stick to the literal text provided: 'Koti'. Actually, in many official documents, 'Koror' is Crore. Let's translate literally:
BDT 500.00 Crore for branch-based.
BDT 125.00 Crore for digital.

Wait, looking at recent news, the requirement for Digital Banks was indeed lower than traditional banks.
Let's provide the literal translation of the numbers as written in the source text.
Source: '৫০০.০০ কোটি টাকা' -> 500.00 Crore Taka.
Source: '১২৫.০০ কোটি টাকা' -> 125.00 Crore Taka.

(Note: If the user expects billions, they might be interpreting 'Koti' differently or there is a typo in my understanding of the Bengali numeral system usage here. But 'Koti' is strictly 10^7. So 500 * 10^7 = 5 * 10^9 = 5 Billion. And 125 * 10^7 = 1.25 Billion.)

I will translate it as BDT 500.00 Crore and BDT 125.00 Crore to be faithful to the text 'কোটি'.

Revised Summary logic: The document sets minimum paid-up capital at BDT 500.00 Crore for branch-based/new banks and BDT 125.00 Crore for branchless digital banks.

Back to Markdown:

Under the authority granted by Section 13 of the Bank Companies Act, 1991, Bangladesh Bank has determined the minimum paid-up capital as BDT 500.00 Crore for the establishment of any new bank-company, including branch-based bank-companies operating in Bangladesh. Additionally, regarding the establishment of branchless digital bank-companies, Bangladesh Bank has determined the minimum paid-up capital as BDT 125.00 Crore.

(Abu Farah Md. Nasir)
Deputy Governor
Bangladesh Bank