Category: Banking and Finance

Jan 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s financial regulator, the Central Bank, said it will outline a master plan to consolidate banks and finance companies with one-to-one meetings to be held among lenders thereafter. The 2009 one involved property and oil derivatives going bad, and the 2011/2012 bubble involved state enterprise credit, margin and gold […]

Jan 13, 2014 (LBO) – Credit to business and personal customers rose 22.3 billion rupees in November 2013 to 2,519 billion rupees, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier, while loans to the state fell, official data showed.Loan to deposit ratios can deteriorate as the Central Bank expands its balance sheet by purchasing securities from […]

Jan 12, 2014 (LBO)- Sri Lanka’s monetary and information technology authorities are in discussions over freeing Paypal inward payments for citizens in the country, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.Sri Lanka had full capital mobility for several centuries until the establishment of a money printing central bank in 1951, which led to currency depreciation due […]

Jan 12, 2014 (LBO) – Private equity can help fast growing small and medium enterprises looking for finance Jupiter Capital Partners which is organizing a seminar targeting the sector said.“There are a lot of small medium and enterprise with very interesting business models who cannot grow without traditional banking and finance cannot accommodate them,” Indika […]

Jan 10, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance companies which are being encouraged to merge with one another should not retrench staff, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. The monetary board, the decision-making body of the Central Bank has decided on the move at a meeting Thursday. “In the event of a consolidation or merger […]

Jan 08, 2014 (LBO) – HSBC said it had helped sell the sixth Sri Lanka sovereign bond with the latest one billion US dollar 5-year bond.“Counting over 120 years in Sri Lanka, we are the only bank to have consecutively partnered the Government of Sri Lanka on all of its sovereign bond issuances since 2007,” […]

Jan 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has lifted a 100 percent cash margin requirement to import cars with immediate effect, as the exchange rate came under appreciating pressure, and the monetary authority held it down.The Central Bank said the restriction imposed on August 30, 2013 has been removed. The monetary authority has been buying […]

Jan 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is expecting two development banks and smaller state banks to be merged, Governor Nivard Cabraal said.National Savings Bank, another state bank will have to broaden their services, he said. New foreign banks setting up in Sri Lanka will also have to be locally incorporated. At the […]

Jan 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance companies will be encouraged to merge with each other and banks and outside investors will be invited in a bid to strengthen capital deficient ones, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. The regulator would like to see 58 non-bank financial institutions consolidated into 20 larger ones, he […]

Dec 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Amana Bank has received 1. 5 billion rupees of subscription for its initial public offer and would close on December 24, registrars to the issue said. The bank offered 214.3 million shares at 7.0 rupees and a further 71.5 million shares if the first tranche was fully taken […]

Dec 24, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Multi Finance Plc, a registered finance company by two levels to ‘B-(lka)’ on rising non performing loans. The firm was also place on negative watch at the new rating level. Fitch said the firm’s unprovided loan losses exceeded equity. Sri Lanka’s economy has been […]

Dec 19, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Union Bank of Colombo Plc by one notch to ‘BB(lka)’ on rising non-performing loans. The outlook was revised to stable from negative at the lower rating. “The downgrade reflects the deterioration in UB’s credit profile, in terms of its asset quality and capitalisation,” the […]