PLC (Public Limited Company) Vs Ltd/Limited:
PLC stands for Public Limited Company. It was Bangladesh Bank's notice to Banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to replace their company suffix "Limited" with PLC in order to comply with the Second Amendment-2020 of the Company Act of 1994. The central bank, Bangladesh Bank, has given permission to banks and NBFIs to complete legal procedures to change their company name and the Articles of Association by adding 'PLC' as a suffix in the place of "Limited". Banks need not to take permission from Bangladesh Bank rather after procedure is completed, the respective Bank will inform Bangladesh Bank so that the central bank can publish it as a gazette notification. Already a number of Banks and NBFIs added "PLC" in their company name such as - Sonali Bank PLC, Janata Bank PLC, Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, United Commercial Bank PLC, IFIC Bank PLC, Citizens Bank PLC, Global Islami Bank PLC, Uttara Bank PLC, DBH Finance PLC, Nagad Finance PLC, and more.
The PLC (Public Limited Company) refers that shares of the company publicly traded in stock markets; and can freely sell shares of the respective company to general public. Shares of Public Limited Company can easily transfer to general public. Whereas in "Limited" company shares are not easily transferrable; generally, personally shares can be bought and sold. In private limited company ('Limited' or 'Ltd') shares do not publically traded. Moreover, in 'Ltd' shares are limited to a maximum of fifty. In 'Ltd', the company owns all liabilities, profits and assets.
The "PLC" company is owned by public shareholders, and managed by directors. As in Bangladesh, most of the Banks and NBFIs (companies) listed on the stock markets and their shares are publicly traded so, the suffix "Limited" does not comply with the real meaning. Therefore, in current scenario using of "Limited" or "Ltd" is wrong. That is why the Banks and NBFIs are ordered (as per Second Amendment held in 2020 of the Company Act of 1994) to change their company name to "PLC" from "Ltd".
Published Date: 15/08/2023