Category: Banking and Finance

August 24, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s financial intelligence unit is looking to raise the threshold on money transactions that have to be reported to authorities, following complaints from market players, a top official said Thursday. Anti-money laundering activities, comes under the supervision of the country’s finance ministry. South Asian securities regulators from Bangladesh, Bhutan, […]

August 23, 2006 (LBO) – Vanik Inc., Wednesday offered creditors a chance of swapping their debt in return for equity, and also disclosed plans to reduce the par value of its stock. Meegoda later informed the stock exchange that the shareholder who sought an EGM had sold out. The ailing firm has sought a meeting […]

August 23, 2006 (LBO) – Overseas Realty Ceylon said Wednesday they would raise 1.25 billion rupees through a rights issue to buy up of a 60 percent stake in property developer Mireka Capital Land Private Ltd. The group owners and managers of Sri Lanka’s twin tower world trade center, will issue 69,057,200 ordinary shares valued […]

August 22, 2006 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon Tuesday posted a 69 percent rise in group profits for the six months to June boosted by growth in net interest income and foreign exchange gains. Sri Lanka’s most profitable commercial bank said group post tax profits advanced 68.8 percent to 1,475.1 million rupees over the […]

August 22, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s long-suffering fund management industry is working with market regulators to promote closed-end funds and give an exit route to investors by listing units on the Colombo Stock Exchange, a senior official said Tuesday. In 2004, the Securities & Exchange Commission unveiled a new code for mutual funds which […]

August 21, 2006 (LBO) — Depositors who have money and other assets in Sri Lanka’s bank have till the end of the month to reactivate their accounts, and prevent accounts being reported to the central bank has abandoned property, officials said.Parliamentarians representing the community in particular have raised objections to the takeover process. Bankers say […]

August 17 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has given the flagship finance company of Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Group, a BBB (lka) rating with a stable outlook, the rating agency said Thursday. Established in 1940, TFC has 32 branches. The Finance Company (TFC) is a listed company with an asset base of 25.2 billion rupees is largest […]

Sri Lanka’s banks are asking authorities to revive stalled plans to strengthen the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB), while the sector is also facing the prospect of a relaxation of debt recovery laws. Analysts say relaxing debt recovery laws, and making it easier for defaulters to escape notice, may push up Sri Lanka’s national non-performing loan […]

The Sri Lanka government agency that overseas state-owned enterprises is drawing up plans to merge a state-owned Sri Lankan housing bank with a savings bank that has a strong presence in the housing market, officials said. The State Mortgage and Investment Bank, a specialist housing bank with assets of 9.1 billion rupees was recently downgraded […]

Aug10 (LBO) – Associated Motorways Limited (AMW) posted an 18 percent jump in net profits to 143.8 million rupees in the first quarter 2007, led by growth in its passenger vehicle segment. The group’s net turnover was also up 76 percent to 2.6 billion rupees for the same period, over a company turnover performance of […]

August 7, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has picked up 12 million rupees to date from taxing foreign movies, dramas and sitcoms aired on local television stations, President Mahinda Rajapakse said. Rajapakse, who is also the island’s finance minister, introduced the tax late July, to raise funds to boost the ailing local film industry. “We […]

August 3, 2006 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s Bank of Ceylon, a state-owned bank which is heavily involved in financing the government, is targeting corporate clients with its computerisation plan nearing completion.Unlike the private commercial banks which went on-line much earlier, the state owned giant with a large branch network spread into the far corners of […]