CIB Circular No. 01: Regarding reporting of private sector external debt (including suppliers' credit) information to the CIB database

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Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank of Bangladesh) Head Office Motijheel, Dhaka-1000 Bangladesh. Website: www.bb.org.bd

Credit Information Bureau

CIB Circular No.-01 Date: 29 September 2025 14 Ashwin 1432

Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer All Scheduled Banks Operating in Bangladesh

Dear Sir,

Regarding reporting of private sector external debt (including suppliers' credit) information to the CIB database.

Information on loans distributed by all scheduled banks and finance companies operating in Bangladesh is stored in the CIB database of Bangladesh Bank. Borrowers in the private sector of the country often receive external loans (including suppliers' credit) from foreign lenders. Currently, because information on such external loans is not included in the CIB database, the actual loan information of borrowers is not reflected in CIB reports, and even if such external loans are defaulted on, borrowers lose the opportunity to obtain new local loan facilities. Including private sector external loans in the CIB database will further increase transparency in the banking sector, increase accountability, and improve loan risk management. Consequently, banks and finance companies will be able to perform due diligence and risk assessment more efficiently during loan approval, which will help maintain overall financial sector loan discipline. Furthermore, it will play a positive role in gaining the confidence of foreign investors or international organizations and create the possibility of improving the country's international credit rating.

2. In this context, Bangladesh Bank has taken the initiative to include information on private sector external loans in the CIB database for the purpose of monitoring external debt of borrowers and risk assessment. Now, regarding the reporting of information on private sector external loans (including suppliers' credit) to the CIB database, the following instructions are provided to you:

a) Information on private sector external loans of all borrower individuals/institutions that have taken loans with the approval of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) or Bangladesh Bank must be reported to the CIB database by the Nominated Bank. Additionally, private sector external loan facilities (however named) that do not require approval from BIDA or Bangladesh Bank, which are not considered as the respective bank's own loan (funded/non-funded) according to existing regulations, and where no liability is created for the bank, must also be reported to the CIB database by the respective Nominated Bank.

b) The Nominated Bank will collect documents including the CIB Enquiry Form, Form XII issued by RJSC, Schedule X, and other information containing details of the borrower individual/institution along with interested persons/institutions (directors, shareholders holding more than 20%, guarantors, etc.) associated with the mentioned loans, and must report the Subject Data of the borrower and its interested persons/institutions to the CIB database in accordance with CIB Circular and Reporting Guidelines.

(See next page)

Phone: 88-02-9550448, 9554896, IP: 88-02-55665001-6, Fax: 88-02-9530479, Web: www.bb.org.bd

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Credit Information Bureau

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c) Along with external loan information, the name, address, and country name of the Foreign Lender, as well as the information of the Approval Authority of Bangladesh, must be reported to the CIB database for each loan.

d) All information on external loans must be reported to the CIB database according to the Approved Foreign Currency. Additionally, the reported Outstanding and Overdue amounts of such loans must be reported in Equivalent USD.

e) Following the Reporting Guidelines of the Credit Information Bureau and the instructions in 'Appendix-A', and in accordance with CIB Circular, information on external loans of the private sector up to October 2025, along with subsequent loans, must be reported to the CIB database on a monthly basis starting from November 1, 2025, while maintaining consistency with the existing timeframes for loan information reporting.

f) If a borrower takes any new external loan, or if any reported existing loan is modified, or if any change occurs for any reason, it must be reported to the CIB database in Real Time.

g) In the event of submitting false/false information or concealing any information in the CIB database, the provisions of CIB Circular No. 02/2011, dated 04/05/2011, and subsequent CIB Circular Letter No. 01, dated 05/03/2025, regarding the imposition of fines will apply.

3. These instructions will come into effect from November 1, 2025.

Yours faithfully,

(Signature)

(Md. Shafiqul Islam) Director (CIB) Phone: 9530133

Attachment: As described (one page).

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Credit Information Bureau "Appendix-A"

1. Method for collecting information on private sector external loans (including suppliers' credit): To report information on private sector external loans to the CIB database, the following 9 new fields are added to the domain table of the currently existing Contract Type.

| Table: Contract Type for External Borrowing in Private Sector | | :--- | :--- | | Value | Description | | Installment contracts | | | F1 | Foreign Term Loan | | F2 | Foreign Buyer's Credit (Installment) | | F3 | Foreign Supplier's Credit (Installment) | | F4 | Foreign Intra-Company Installment Loan | | F5 | Foreign Other Installment Loan | | Non-Installment contracts | | | F6 | Foreign Buyer's Credit (Non-Installment) | | F7 | Foreign Supplier's Credit (Non-Installment) | | F8 | Foreign Intra-Company Non-Installment Loan | | F9 | Foreign Other Non-Installment Loan |

2. Method for reporting external loan information according to Approved Foreign Currency: There is a requirement to report information on loans distributed by all scheduled banks and finance companies operating in Bangladesh to the CIB database in Bangladeshi taka (BDT) as the Currency. However, all information on private sector external loans must be reported to the CIB database according to the Approved Foreign Currency. In this context, the following domain table for Currency is added for external loan information reporting.

| Table: Currency Code for External Borrowing in Private Sector | | :--- | :--- | | Value | Description | | BDT | Bangladeshi Taka | | USD | US Dollar | | CNY | Chinese Yuan | | EUR | Euro | | AUD | Australian Dollar | | CHF | Swiss Franc | | GBP | Pound Sterling | | JPY | Japanese Yen | | SGD | Singapore Dollar | | ACU | ACU Dollar |

3. Method for collecting information on the Approval Authority of external loans: External loans in the private sector of borrowers are taken through the Nominated Bank with the approval of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) or Bangladesh Bank, or in applicable cases, according to circulars issued by Bangladesh Bank. In this context, the following domain table is added to report the information of the Approval Authority of Bangladesh with each loan.

| Table: Approval Authorities for External Borrowing in Private Sector | | :--- | :--- | | Value | Description | | BIDA | Bangladesh Investment Development Authority | | BB-FEID | Foreign Exchange Investment Department of Bangladesh Bank | | BB-FEPD | Foreign Exchange Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank | | BB-Other | Other Department of Bangladesh Bank | | Other | Foreign loan without prior approval of Bangladesh Bank |