Category: Banking and Finance

Sept 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run National Savings Bank (NSB) is starting a three-month savings drive from October 01, to coincide with World Thrift Day, officials said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The bank was also offering gifts ranging from bicycles and […]

Sept 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance companies, especially smaller ones, could face difficulties in raising funds to maintain liquidity if the present high inflation and interest rate scenario continues, Fitch Ratings has warned. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The rating agency said […]

NEW YORK, September 23, 2008 (AFP) – Tycoon Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy five billion dollars of stock in Goldman Sachs, and could double its stake within five years, the Wall Street bank said late Tuesday. Under the terms of the agreement, Berkshire Hathaway is buying five billion dollars of perpetual preferred […]

Sept 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will bring in tighter laws to nab fraudsters who run fraudulent deposit scams, a government minister said, after the collapse of the latest Ponzi-style high yield scheme. Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was responding to a question from parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa. A person calling himself Sakvithi Ranasinghe had collected hundreds […]

Sept 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Finance said it plans to merge with its subsidiary Asian Finance in a seven for two share swap. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The company said in a stock exchange filing that the merger and share […]

Set 24, 2008 (LBO) – HSBC Sri Lanka said it had arranged a 45 million US dollar loan backed by Sinosure, China’s export credit agency, to fund an expansion of Sri Lanka Telecom’s cellular unit Mobitel. Leisha De Silva Chandrasena, chairperson of Sri Lanka Telecom, says the expansion project will provide high speed internet, mobile […]

WASHINGTON, September 23, 2008 (AFP) – The conversion of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to regulated commercial banks marks the end of an era of independent Wall Street investment firms and a separation in the industry since the 1930s. The change, announced late Sunday by the Federal Reserve, closes the door on the last two […]

Sept 22, 2008 (LBO) – Police are trying to track down a Sri Lankan businessman who has fled abroad after duping thousands of people into depositing money with his firm by promising high returns. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Thousands of distraught depositors have […]

NEW YORK, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve announced Tuesday it would make an unprecedented 85-billion-dollar rescue loan to save insurance giant American International Group from bankruptcy amid fears of a catastrophic meltdown on financial markets. The move came after federal officials reportedly tried but failed to persuade private firms over the […]

Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan investors in Vietnam could bank at a new fully owned branch in the country after authorities gave the go ahead to incorporate a local unit in the country, the banking group’s Colombo office said. “We feel that this is strategically important for the local investors and corporates who […]

Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Company (PLC) said net profit rose seven percent to 803 million rupees in the year ending March 31, 2008 and that it was diversifying its business to include ship finance. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]

WASHINGTON, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – US investment giant Lehman Brothers announced its bankruptcy early Monday as the Federal Reserve and major global banks moved to shore up financial market shaken by the housing and mortgage crisis.The Wall Street Journal warned in an editorial Monday that Americans should brace themselves for “a very rough Monday.” […]