In a stunning move that has shaken Bangladesh’s media and advertising industries, the National Board of Revenue’s Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) has frozen all financial accounts of Asiatic Marketing Communications Ltd..
While the official line cites an ongoing investigation into large-scale tax evasion and asset concealment, industry insiders point to a far deeper narrative—one involving monopoly, influence-peddling, corporate coercion, and media manipulation.
For over a decade, Asiatic has controlled nearly 80% of Bangladesh’s media buying market, overseeing the flow of advertising budgets worth an estimated Tk 3,000 to 4,000 crore annually. Its influence permeated television, print, and digital platforms.
“If your newsroom didn’t align with the ideological tone preferred by Asiatic and its clients, your revenue dried up—overnight,” said a former marketing head at a leading television network. “It wasn’t about media quality. It was about compliance.”
The roots of Asiatic’s grip extended beyond agencies and into multinational corporations. Multiple sources allege that local CEOs and marketing leads of global brands formed a clandestine alliance with the firm, ensuring their ad spend flowed only through “friendly” media outlets.
An explosive Facebook post by journalist Zulkar Nain Saer reignited the debate this week. “Asiatic is a cancer to Bangladesh’s media industry,” he wrote. “There are kickbacks, women, alcohol—this is a ring, and it runs deep.”
The post on the cyberspace, shared widely among journalists and civil society activists, claims that media compliance was purchased, not earned. “You don’t get ad money unless you toe the line. They’ve set the rules, and everyone had to play,” the post added.
On March 16, CIC formally issued instructions to freeze all bank and non-bank financial accounts associated with Asiatic. A senior CIC official confirmed to this reporter, “We are not just looking at tax files. We’re investigating discrepancies between declared income and actual asset ownership. Several connected individuals are also under review.”
He added that while formal notifications to freeze related accounts of implicated individuals are underway, names are being withheld for legal reasons.
The financial blockade could mark the beginning of the end for one of South Asia’s most entrenched ad empires—and a pivotal moment for media reform in Bangladesh.
“This is not just about tax,” said a communications professor at Dhaka University. “This is about dismantling a cartel that has dictated what the public hears, sees, and reads. For too long, media survival was based not on journalism but on obedience to corporate gatekeepers.”
However, skepticism remains. Will this only result in another monopoly under a different name? Will new players get access, or will the power shift to another favoured firm?
Civil society is already calling for an independent audit of Bangladesh’s media advertising ecosystem, stricter ethical guidelines, and competitive ad procurement standards—especially for government-funded campaigns.