Bay Leasing and Investment Limited (BLIL) incorporated in Bangladesh as a public limited company under the companies act 1994. It obtained license from the bangladesh bank as a non-bank financial institution under the Financial Institutions Act 1993 on 25 May 1996 and commenced leasing and other types of financing activities at that time. The company was established with an authorised and a paid up capital of Tk 500 million and Tk 50 million respectively, divided into shares of Tk 100 each. In June 1998, the securities and exchange commission granted the company the license to operate as a full-fledged merchant banker. The company's paid up capital rose to Tk 40 million in 2000 to lever the accompanied risk of its increased business performance.

Bay Leasing and Investment Limited was initially established to provide lease finance for all types of industrial, commercial, agricultural, transport, marine, electric and electronic equipment/machinery, elevator, generator and other fixed capital goods. Extending term finance for BMRE and for other purposes was also an important objective of the company.

On 30 June 2000, the total liability of the company stood at Tk 141.08 million. This included shareholders equity (Tk 45.08 million), term loan from banks (Tk 46.37 million), lease deposits (Tk 9.92 million), and other liabilities (Tk 39.70 million). The assets of the company on the date included Tk 134.36 million of leased assets, the principal investment of the company. Up to 31 December 2000, the company provided Tk 67 million to finance 32 industrial units.

The company has a brokerage house named BLI Securities Ltd., which is engaged in stock market dealings and other merchant banking functions. The company earned a gross profit of Tk 10 million in 1997 and Tk 11 million in 2000. The management of the company is vested in a 19-member management team headed by the managing director. [S M Mahfuzur Rahman]