Category: Banking and Finance

Feb 28, 2008 (LBO) – Ten Sri Lankan state banks have joined a government public information service with the aim of giving the public better access to finance, officials said. Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said Thursday the service is meant to improve the efficiency of government service and make it easier for people to […]

Feb 27, 2008 (LBO) – The sub-prime loan default crisis in the United States has underlined the value of traditional risk management practices, but countries like Sri Lanka may be at the receiving end, a top banker said. International markets had suddenly turned cautious, with lenders distrusting balance sheets. “It is not a question of […]

Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank plans to hire professionals with expertise in the petroleum industry to support the government’s oil exploration and development efforts. It has just advertised for petroleum economists, geophysicists, petroleum geologists and petroleum risk analysts for positions in the central bank’s middle management level. Applicants with qualifications in […]

Feb 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has taken the Central Bank to court in a legal challenge on restrictions on its ownership of another bank in which it is a big shareholder, a newspaper reported. DFCC is resisting a ruling by the Central Bank Monetary Board seeking to reduce its shareholding in […]

Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Loans approved by Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank in the nine months to December 2007 has plunged to 10 billion rupees from 17 billion a year before, the company told shareholders. DFCC said lower credit demand for capital expenditure, high interest rates and an effort to maintain credit quality slashed loan […]

Feb 21, 2008 (LBO) –Standard & Poor’s will start an office in India allowing a closer watch on Sri Lanka and other South Asian nations, the rating agency said. S&P had a subsidiary in India, CRISIL, but permission to set up a fully-owned subsidiary has only just been given. The South Asian office in Mumbai […]

Feb 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run savings giant, National Savings Bank entered the pensions market with a campaign specifically targeted at young savers, officials said. Sri Lanka’s central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said the scheme will give an opportunity for private sector workers to save for their retirement as formal pensions were only […]

Feb 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank has announced that its Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eran Wickramaratne will succeed Nihal Welikala as the Chief Executive from April 1 after the latter’s retirement. Both are former officers of the Citibank NA, Colombo. Wickramaratne joined NDB in April 1999 and has been closely associated with […]

Feb 15, 2008 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector financing arm, has given a 75 million dollar standby loan for John Keells Holdings (JKH) which can be invested abroad, the firms said in a joint statement. “This will promote cross border business and growth of infrastructure across the region,” the statement […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sanasa Development Bank, which has roots in the micro-finance sector, will get cash from foreign partners to meet regulatory capital requirements, an official said. A unit of Singapore’s Orient Global has injected 71 million rupees in Sanasa and has received the regulatory nod to invest up to 15 […]

Feb 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon has tied up with financial giant JP Morgan Chase, to offer a foreign exchange card that can replace travellers cheques for people traveling abroad, the bank said. Foreign travellers could store the equivalent of between 500 to 10,000 dollars and use it as to […]

Feb 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank says it has linked up with US-based TradeCard Inc to provide import and export financing services that will cut transaction costs, especially in the apparel sector. “Partnering with TradeCard enables us to electronically deliver more trade financing options to our customers in Sri Lanka, NDB Bank […]