BSEC to appoint special auditor for People’s Leasing

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will appoint a special auditor for the scam-hit People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited (PLFS) to investigate the company’s financial health.

The decision was taken after a meeting between the regulator and the board of the non-banking institution on Monday.

The commission also asked the company to submit a business plan for the future.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) continued to extend the share trading suspension of PLFS wreaked havoc by rogue banker PK Halder’s financial fraud.

The DSE first suspended its share trading on July 14, 2019, after the Bangladesh Bank took the initiative to stop the activities of PLFS due to irregularities, corruption, and mismanagement.

In June 2019, the government directed the central bank to liquidate PLFS due to the deterioration of its financial health over the last several years.

In June 2019, the finance ministry asked the BB to close down the PLFS for its failure to improve its conditions. Meanwhile, the High Court has ordered the relevant agencies to take steps to restructure or revive the PLFS.

Proshanta Kumar Halder, the then NRB Global Bank managing director who is also known as PK Halder, used his connections in PLFS to get involved in various irregularities and swindled at least Tk 3,500 crore from it and three other NBFIs.

Responding to a writ petition filed by 201 depositors against the company’s liquidation, the High Court on June 28 this year formed a new board to lead reforms.

PLFS was licensed by the central bank as an NBFI on November 24, 1997.

It was doing well until 2014, with net profit being Tk 19.66 crore that year, but started incurring losses from the following year.