Category: Banking and Finance

July 28, 2007 (LBO) – People’s Bank is on an aggressive drive to raise deposits this year, with an enhanced target of 30 billion rupees, a top official said. With the re-launch of the bank’s ˜Jayasiri’ low cost mobilisation scheme, People’s Bank is geared to reach the higher target and promote the saving habit in […]

July 27, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka which affirmed People’s Merchant Bank’s (PMB) long-term BBB (lka) rating Friday said its assets grew 44 percent in the last financial year. The outlook on the rating is stable. “PMB’s rating takes into account its modest profitability and satisfactory asset quality,” Fitch said. It also considered the […]

July 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has relaxed foreign currency transactions in the country by allowing money changers to sell as well as buy forex and also relaxed rules on operating non-resident foreign currency accounts. The Central Bank, which regulates the industry, said in a public notice that nine money changers out of 62 […]

July 23, 2007 (LBO) – Money laundering investigators say authorities are probing activities of Goldquest in Sri Lanka but details could not be released because there was no legal provision to do so. Officials had claimed earlier in the seminar that money laundering through the financial system could turn away genuine foreign investors. “Goldquest investigations […]

July 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bank regulators have shot down an attempt to appoint a common directorate to two state banks which had their origins in election promises, but are now trying to consolidate to conserve capital, officials said. Vimasuma.com Newsdesk The government is planning to amalgamate a state bank created to give […]

July 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should focus on giving insurance to the poor, regional experts in micro insurance say, with rural populations a largely untapped market. At present, insurance penetration in most South Asian countries is less than 10 percent, leaving over 90 percent of the market untapped. Two micro insurance specialists from […]

July 22, 2007 (LBO) – ABC Investments, a new Sri Lankan Islamic investment group, plans to expand their business with branches outside the capital Colombo, especially in areas with large concentrations of Muslim people.The Islamic Takaful insurance concept has a growing customer base in Sri Lanka with Amana Takaful.The firm which provides Barakah Islamic financial […]

July 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s terror finance sleuths said two former ministers who had made claims about money being paid to Tamil Tigers are yet to complain to the unit that is charged with probing terrorist finance. Officials said persons could report suspicious activity in writing or email if they were satisfied that […]

July 20, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lanka-German initiative to give microfinance to tsunami victims had more than doubled its original target helping more than 2000 small business people and creating 6000 new job opportunities, officials said. At present 1.9 billion rupees is outstanding on 15,331 projects. The bank says the scheme has mobilized over […]

July 20, 2007 (LBO) – HNB Assurance, a unit of Hatton National Bank, has tied up with the micro finance arm of Sarvodaya, a non-governmental organization, to launch micro insurance products for rural families.The micro insurance scheme ‘Sathkara’ has already been launched in Galle, Matara, Vavuniya and Batticaloa Sarvodaya societies as pilot projects to educate […]

July 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry is looking for foreign partners to set up a machinery leasing company that would be especially useful for the large number of small and medium firms that dominate the sector. “The CCI is looking at having machinery and equipment to service the needs not only of […]

July 18, 2007 (LBO) – The financial journal Euromoney has named Commercial Bank as Sri Lanka’s best bank in its 2007 survey, the bank said Wednesday. The magazine’s Asian regional awards recognise the best banks in 16 countries. It has listed Commercial Bank alongside other country winners such as ICICI Bank (India), China Merchant Bank […]