Category: Banking and Finance

Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, is planning to demonstrate in Sri Lanka its smart card technology that helped create innovative products and take banking to rural India, even to illiterate farmers, a top official said. Chanda Kochhar, Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank, said its technology partner Financial Information Network […]

Sept 23, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has urged the banking community to reach out to the rural poor saying the move would not only help impoverished farmers but enrich the banks themselves. The government and the banking community should aim to improve financial inclusion for vulnerable sections and […]

Sept 22, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan chief financial officer’s job has become more challenging but the position retains its strategic importance and provides the best stepping stone to the top in the corporate sector, a senior executive said. “It is the same old role which most of our finance professionals are not playing […]

Sept 20, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said it was going ahead with a plan to raise new debt to beef up its capital base and meet Central Bank requirements. A bank statement said it plans to make a public quoted issue of unsecured subordinated redeemable five-year debentures the details of which are to […]

Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankans traveling abroad can apply for international health insurance introduced by Aviva Insurance that will cover the cost of medical care abroad, officials said Wednesday. The insurance plans offered by Aviva’s local partner Eagle Insurance go up to two million dollars in annual coverage. They cover health costs whether […]

Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Nations Trust Bank said Wednesday it remains the sole issuer of American Express credit cards and other travel services despite the sale of the latter’s international banking subsidiary to Standard Chartered PLC. American Express Company has announced that it has sold its subsidiary, American Express Bank Ltd. (AEB), to Standard […]

Sept 18, 2007 (LBO) – Bad debts in Sri Lanka’s banks are rising and loan to deposit ratios are deteriorating as the lagged effects of a credit bubble driven by loose monetary policy are beginning to be felt, the latest emerging data shows. Loan growth last year was 29 percent and has slowed slightly to […]

Sept 10, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed DFCC Vardhana Bank Limited’s (DVB) National Long-term rating at ‘AA-(lka)’ with a stable outlook.“The principal factor supporting DVB’s rating is the strong implied support assumed to be available from its parent DFCC Bank,” Fitch Rating said. “DVB is envisaged to play an important strategic role […]

Sept 10, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Rating Agency (LRA) has lowered the outlook of Ceylinco Investments and Realty’s (CIR) long-term BB1 rating from stable to negative. . “The ratings reflect the Company’s weakening asset quality, frail financial performance and low capitalization,” LRA said. “The negative outlook is premised on LRA’s concerns about the escalating interest-rate-environment, […]

Sept 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank plans to enforce tough new mandatory rules next year that include provisions to encourage ‘whistleblowers’, linking executive pay to performance and discouraging the practice of inter-locking directorates. The new corporate governance rules seek to separate the functions of the chairman, who must be one of the […]

September 09 (LBO) – Thanuja was orphaned at a very young age. She started to study the art of making coir products at the village Kohu Samithiya, or coir association from the time she was 17 years old. Realizing that she had a knack for it, she decided to strike out on her own. Unbankable […]

Sept 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Insurance, has announced an agreement with the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association to be the official life insurance provider for all its members. The life insurance cover offered by the company would be extended to national cricketers of the past, the company said in a statement. The association and […]