LankaBangla Finance becomes LankaBangla Finance PLC

LankaBangla Finance Ltd has changed its name to LankaBangla Finance PLC, according to a Bangladesh Bank notice yesterday. 

It came after the central bank, in May, directed non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to complete legal procedures in order to replace their company suffix "Limited" with PLC.

In Bangladesh, companies are switching to the PLC (Public Limited Company) suffix in order to comply with the amended Company Act 1994. The amendment was made in 2020.

A PLC is a public company and is the equivalent of a US publicly traded company that carries the Inc. or corporation designation. 

The use of the PLC abbreviation after the name of a company communicates to investors and to anyone dealing with the company that it is a publicly traded corporation.

Currently, 35 NBFIs are operating in Bangladesh. Of them, two are fully government-owned, one is the subsidiary of a state-run commercial bank, 19 were initiated by private domestic initiative, and 13 were initiated by joint venture initiative.

In February, the central bank gave permission to banks to complete legal procedures to add PLC as a suffix.