Legal Services | Regulatory Compliances in Bangladesh
Legal Services | Regulatory Compliances in Bangladesh 
Legal Services | Regulatory Compliances in Bangladesh

Legal Services | Regulatory Compliances in Bangladesh

In order to operate business activities in any business sector, it is required to establish a business establishment, for e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, branch office or a limited liability company. Once the establishment is formed/incorporated certain laws and regulations becomes applicable on the establishment which regulates it. The regulatory laws are often formed by the regulatory authorities which implicates certain regulatory compliances on the establishments. The regulatory compliances are generally set by the authority which provides the incorporation/permission to the establishments, for e.g., the regulatory authority for limited lability companies and partnership firms is Registrar of Joint Stock Companies And Firms (RJSC) and the regulatory authority for branch office is Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).

The general regulatory compliances for limited liability companies are:
  • Conducting at least four board of director meetings per year
  • To obtain an annual audit report of the company from an audit firm
  • Conducting annual general meeting of the shareholders and submit the documents to the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies And Firms (RJSC)
  • To maintain a share register
  • To maintain a director register
  • To renew the trade license annually from the respective city corporation/ local government office
The general regulatory compliances for branch office are:
  • To apply to Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) for renewal of the permission of the branch office before two months of the expiry of the existing permissions
  • To notify the Central Bank (Bangladesh Bank), via the authorized dealer bank, after obtaining the initial / renewal permission from Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). 
Apart from reporting to the above regulatory authorities, most of the establishment are also required to comply with regulatory compliances of the taxation authority, i.e. National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The general taxation regulatory compliances are:
  • Submitting annual and quartile tax returns
  • Summiting monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual Value Added Tax (VAT) filings
The investors, both local and foreign, of the businesses may have a rough idea about the general regulatory compliances which are required to be complied with, but it often appears that they are unaware of the various types of rules and regulations associated with such compliances, specially the procedure to follow and the documentations to be drafted and filed in order to comply with such regulatory compliances. Thus, the establishments usually appoint law/consultancy firms to deal with such regulatory compliances, which allows them to save themselves from any non-compliances which could give rise to a default and subsequent penalties from the regulatory authorities. 
The know about the regulatory compliances and to comply with them helps the owners/investors/future investors of the establishments to take informed business decision which will not have future legal complexities. Multinational companies are often seen to maintain hundred percent compliance with the regulatory compliances as this allows them to conduct their business hassle free and avoid any penalties and non-compliances which could damage their business and/or reputation.