Bangladesh ended 2025 without a single initial public offering (IPO), marking the longest freeze in the primary market in recent history amid regulatory tightening and sustained political uncertainty.
“The primary market has remained frozen for over 1.5 years—an unprecedented and the longest dry spell in recent times,” said EBL Securities Research in its yearly market review and 2026 outlook.
The IPO market remained inactive as regulatory actions and policy changes disrupted the listing pipeline, the brokerage said.
Analysts linked the halt in fresh listings to a hardline regulatory stance against faulty IPO applications showing inflated performance, the cancellation of several proposals and the ongoing overhaul of the Public Issue Rules.
The primary market has effectively stayed dormant for around one and a half years, coinciding with a prolonged downturn in the secondary market and weakening investor sentiment, EBL Securities said.
The cancellation of pending IPOs, delays in proposed amendments to the Public Issue Rules and broader market uncertainty driven by prevailing political cues have stalled primary market operations and added pressure on investor confidence, it said.
Delays in regulatory reforms, alongside political uncertainty, discouraged potential issuers from approaching the capital market, highlighting a sharp contrast with earlier years, the brokerage added.
IPO activity remained strong between 2017 and 2022, with annual listings ranging from eight to 13 companies and steadily rising fund mobilisation.
Ten companies went public in 2017 raising about Tk493 crore, followed by 13 issues in 2018 that raised nearly Tk576 crore and another 10 IPOs in 2019 that mobilised around Tk613 crore.
Despite the pandemic, eight companies raised close to Tk689 crore through IPOs in 2020, while 2021 marked a high point with 13 listings raising more than Tk1,046 crore.
Momentum peaked in 2022, when 10 companies raised nearly Tk1,200 crore, the highest IPO fund mobilisation in recent years.
The slowdown began in 2023, when only two IPOs raised about Tk86 crore, before activity weakened further.
Although five IPOs raised around Tk661 crore in 2024, the pipeline dried up completely in 2025 with no new listings and zero fund mobilisation, according to EBL Securities data.
The brokerage warned that a prolonged absence of IPOs could hurt capital formation and delay growth and expansion plans of potential issuers, particularly companies dependent on equity financing.
Restoring confidence in the primary market will depend on timely regulatory clarity and a stable political environment, EBL Securities said, cautioning that without these conditions, IPO activity may remain subdued into 2026.
