A new bank, 50 percent owned by non-resident Bangladeshis, has received a green light from Bangladesh Bank.

The central bank will seek applications from interested NRB entrepreneurs, said an official, after the BB's Board of Directors on Tuesday approved a proposal to set up the bank.

The central bank will also make a set of criteria for evaluating the application forms.

The proposal mentioned that the amount of foreign direct investment in Bangladesh is much lower than in neighbouring countries.

NRBs are interested to invest here and their demand for establishing banks owned by them was raised many times in different forums.

Considering the huge remittances sent by the NRBs, formation of such a bank to create a handsome foreign exchange reserve has opened up a positive side, the proposal said.

In line with a guideline, also approved by the board, the paid-up capital of the NRB bank will be Tk 400 crore. The NRBs will provide the half of the paid-up capital and the rest will be raised through a public offering.

An entrepreneur can hold a minimum of Tk 10 crore in shares or a maximum of 10 percent of the total shares. No share of the entrepreneur can be transferred in three years without the central bank's permission.

A non-refundable amount of $15,000 has to be deposited with the application.

There are about 50 local and foreign commercial banks operating in the country, of which 30 are private.

The approval for any new bank had been on hold from 2001, following the presence of more-than-required banks and criticisms from various quarters.

 Source: The Daily Star