BANGLADESH Law and Practice Contributed by: A B M Nasirud Doulah and Amina Khatoon, Doulah & Doulah
Investment Authority The authority within the jurisdiction of which an industry/establishment is established and/or reg - istered may need clearance from such authority for a change in shareholding. If such set up is not within the specialised zone of authorities such as the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority and Hi Tech Park Authority, then such set up is considered to be within the jurisdiction of Bang - ladesh Investment Development Authority. National Board of Revenue It supervises tax-related aspects of M&A deals in Bangladesh and double taxation avoidance treaty implementation. 2.3 Restrictions on Foreign Investments The Foreign Private Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 1980 grants protection to for - eign investment in Bangladesh, including fair and equitable treatment and protection against discrimination, unilateral changes to adversely alter the operating conditions and unlawful expropriation. Private investment is allowed in all sectors except (i) arms and ammunition and other defence equipment and machinery, (ii) forest plantation and mechanised extraction within the bounds of reserved forests, (iii) the production of nuclear energy, and (iv) security printing. In addi - tion, there are 17 controlled sectors that require prior clearance/permission from the respective line ministries/authorities (by way of public pro - curement or licensing or public private partner - ship) as follows: • fishing in the deep sea; • bank/financial institutions in the private sec - tor; • insurance companies in the private sector;
• the generation, supply and distribution of power in the private sector; • the exploration, extraction and supply of natural gas/oil; • the exploration, extraction and supply of coal; • the exploration, extraction and supply of other mineral resources; • large-scale infrastructure projects (eg, flyover, elevated expressway, monorail, economic zone, inland container depot/container freight station); • crude oil refinery (recycling/refining of lube oil used as fuel); • medium and large industries using natural gas/condensate and other minerals as raw material; • telecommunications services (mobile/cellular and land phone); • satellite channels; • cargo/passenger aviation; • sea-bound ship transport; • seaports/deep seaports; • VOIP/IP telephone; and • industries using heavy minerals accumulated from sea beaches. While discrimination against foreign investors is not widespread, the government frequently promotes local industries, and some discrimi - natory policies and regulations exist. For exam - ple, the government requires majority or more than majority local ownership of new shipping, logistics, freight forwarding, banking and insur - ance companies, etc, albeit with exemptions for
existing foreign-owned firms. 2.4 Antitrust Regulations
As per the Competition Act, 2012 any combina - tion (including any M&A transaction) that would have an adverse effect on competition is prohib - ited. The Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC, or the “Commission” ) has wide powers,
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