Prime Finance crisis worsens despite BB lifeline

Prime Finance and Investment Ltd (PFIL) is facing renewed pressure as depositors protest and seek immediate intervention from Bangladesh Bank (BB), saying the troubled non-bank financial institution has failed to meet the central bank’s conditions and repay their money.

The crisis has deepened despite a three-month lifeline given by BB to help PFIL turn around its operations. Thousands of depositors are still waiting for their money, fuelling frustration and protests.

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“We need our hard-earned money immediately,” said Abdus Salam Sarker, a retired government official and PFIL depositor, adding that the company had repeatedly promised repayment but failed to pay.

It was required to raise Tk 100 crore in fresh capital, secure Tk 570 crore in liquidity and repay Tk 266.66 crore to depositors through asset sales.

More than 3,000 individual depositors are struggling to support their families as Tk 328 crore remains stuck with PFIL, Salam  said.

On September 24, around 70 to 80 depositors locked the gate of PFIL’s head office in Dhaka, demanding the return of their money.

BB HAD GIVEN PFIL THREE MONTHS TO RECOVER

In December last year, BB decided to liquidate nine ailing NBFIs, including PFIL, under the Bank Resolution Ordinance, 2025, the country’s first comprehensive framework for resolving failing banks and non-banks.

Following a review in June this year, however, BB gave five NBFIs, including PFIL, three months to recover and repay depositors. It declared the other four non-viable and began resolution proceedings against them.

Under the conditions, PFIL was required to raise Tk 100 crore in fresh capital from sponsors, arrange Tk 570 crore in liquidity, and repay about Tk 266.66 crore owed to individual depositors by selling assets.

The assets identified for sale included 20 kathas of land valued at Tk 60 crore, shares worth Tk 50 crore, assets of PFI Securities Ltd worth Tk 120 crore and mortgaged assets worth Tk 6.66 crore, according to a BB document.

PFIL was also required to recover Tk 40 crore in loans and reduce its classified loan ratio. BB data show that 78 percent of PFIL’s loans are classified, while its cumulative loss stands at Tk 351 crore. Its shares trade in the “Z” category of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

BB had warned that it would appoint an administrator under the Bank Resolution Act, 2026 if PFIL failed to meet the conditions.

PFIL officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the company had been unable to fulfil the central bank’s conditions.

PFIL Chairman Abdullah Al Faruque, however, said the company was working to meet the requirements. “We are now working to meet the central bank’s criteria and have already informed the banking regulator of our progress,” he said.

He said PFIL was repaying depositors, recovering loans and taking steps to sell properties.

DEPOSITORS SEEK ADMINISTRATOR, AUDIT, REPAYMENT PLAN

Depositors, meanwhile, said PFIL had met none of the conditions and had lost their trust. They said the chairman and directors had given them a written pledge on September 16 to repay their money by the September 28 deadline, after breaking earlier promises. That deadline also passed without repayment.

On September 24, the day they locked the head office, the depositors also sent a letter to the BB governor seeking the immediate appointment of an administrator. Retired Appellate Division judge Justice Syed Mohammad Ziaul Karim and former senior secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan wrote the letter on their behalf.

The depositors said many of them are elderly or retired and are struggling to pay for medical treatment, education and daily expenses because their life savings remain stuck with PFIL.

They called for a BB-supervised resolution authority or administrator, an immediate freeze on PFIL’s transactions and asset transfers, and an independent forensic audit and asset quality review to make the company’s actual assets and liabilities public.

They also sought enforcement of PFIL’s written repayment commitments, legal action and asset freezes if illegal transfers or money laundering are found, a depositor-wise repayment roadmap and a communication cell to provide regular updates.

The letter was copied to the secretaries of the Finance Division and Financial Institutions Division, the National Board of Revenue chairman and a BB deputy governor.

On the same day, the BB board approved a refund scheme for depositors of four NBFIs being liquidated. BB had earlier dissolved their boards and appointed administrators at those institutions. PFIL depositors are now seeking similar treatment.

BB Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan told The Daily Star that PFIL had been given additional time considering the overall situation. “But as it failed to fulfil the conditions, a decision on its liquidation may be taken, as with the four other institutions,” he said.