Category: Banking and Finance

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said that Standard Chartered Bank’s Sri Lanka branch’s (SCBSL) ‘AAA(lka)’ national long-term rating will not be affected by the 27 billion rupee fine imposed by the central bank. The outlook on the rating is stable, the rating agency said in a statement. The central bank’s Department of […]

Apr 10, 2011 (LBO) – Amana Bank, Sri Lanka’s first licensed commercial bank operating on Islamic banking principles will receive technical support from Bank Islam Malaysia which has taken a 20 percent stake, a media report said. Malaysia is a centre for Islamic finance, where banking is conducted under Sharia law, which prohibits the charging […]

Apr 08, 2011 (LBO) – Loans by Sri Lanka’s listed commercial banks will grow 25 percent in 2011, up from 22. 5 percent in the with bad loans and also interest rates remaining low despite rising inflation, an equities research report has said. The report said PABC Bank reported highest loan growth of 80 percent […]

Apr 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon has released a statement on the action led by state-connected shareholders to oppose the re-election of an independent director. 3. The Board wishes to clarify and re-iterate that Mr. Ranjit Fernando’s decision not to stand for re-election was his own independent decision and was […]

Apr 01, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has raised Ceylease Financial Services’ rating outlook to stable from negative and confirmed its ‘BB+(lka)’ rating. CFS’s total assets amounted to 1.5 billion rupees in 2010. The outlook revision reflects CFS’s improving financial profile, underpinned by better credit controls and more stringent recovery efforts, a statement said. […]

Mar 30, 2011 (LBO) – A director of Sri Lanka’s listed Commercial Bank of Ceylon has stepped down amid pressure from the state, deepening a controversy over recent appointment of state-connected officials to private listed banks. State funds hold large stakes in HNB. But a bank filing said the two directors were “non-executive/independent. ” Commercial […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to devise Islamic finance specific regulations this year following ongoing consultations with the industry, though the first commercial bank on alternative finance has been licensed on existing rules, an official said. At the moment a commercial bank operating on Islamic finance principles has no income earning asset […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it will provide a five million US dollar trade-finance facility to Sri Lanka’s Union Bank of Colombo. The funds will help boost international trade opportunities for the bank and its small-business and corporate-sector clients. “The trade-finance facility will provide the Union Bank of Colombo […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank, a listed company, said it will sell People’s Merchant Finance Company Ltd, a 99 percent owned registered finance company, for 430 million rupees. The firm will be sold to Capital Alliance Holdings, an investment banking firm, if regulatory approval is given, PMB said in a […]

Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka loans to business from commercial banks rose 28.1 percent in January 2011 from a year earlier to 1,530 billion rupees, central bank data showed as inflation concerns also rose in the island. Under Sri Lanka’s flawed monetary law, which critics say has made the country prone to high […]

Mar 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking regulator plans to limit exposure of banks to the stock market to prevent the risk of a downturn in equities affecting the financial sector, a senior central bank official said. Samarasiri, who spoke at a public forum on how the central bank revived finance companies that collapsed […]

Mar 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank has joined a World Bank credit scheme to channel low cost loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through eight lending institutions. SMEs with an annual turnover of less than 300 million rupees operating in a large number of sectors are eligible to apply under concessionary […]