Govt to hold majority stake in Nagad
The process has begun to include government's majority stake in Nagad – the fastest growing mobile financial services (MFS) provider in the country.
With the move, the postal department will own 51% of the company, while the remaining 49% share will be held by Third Wave Technologies.
The postal department has already renamed the MFS provider as "Nagad Bangladesh PLC".
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A meeting was held in this regard by at the Posts and Telecommunications Division on Tuesday.
Senior officials of the postal department, the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC), and Third Wave Technologies took part in the meeting.
"We are taking opinions from everyone regarding Nagad's ownership. We are scrutinising all the possibilities. This is an internal matter," Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Afzal Hossain informed the press on Tuesday.
The Bangladesh Bank, on 30 September, extended its interim approval for the MFS to March 2022.
The central bank also instructed the authorities concerned to adjust the bank loans Nagad had secured violating the existing laws.
It found that Nagad utilised its users' money to secure bank loans above Tk500 crore. This violated the rules and regulations set by BB.
Nagad currently has 5.40 crore registered customers. Its average daily transaction is Tk700 crore.
