Category: Legal

June 22, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Thursday announced plans to re-launch a state institution to investigate complaints against newspapers despite the existence of a similar operation run by editors.Media Minister Anura Yapa said the government decided to re-activate the state-run Press Council to work in parallel with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), a private […]

June 22, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka announced plans to set up a special company to take over bad debts of state banks and revive the failed Pramuka Bank under a new tag – Sri Lanka Savings Bank, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundara said Thursday. Last year, the four banks reported non-performing loans of around […]

June 19, 2006 (LBO) – A new securities law giving legal muscle to companies who raise debt by securitising the assets are likely to come through this year as part of a government lending agreement with the Asian Development Bank. Securitisation process which uses future cashflows to back a debt instrument, has been carried out […]

June 01 (LBO) – Ceylon Tobacco Company together with several hotel associations filed petitions in the Supreme Court on Thursday against proposed laws to clamp down on smoking. The petition challenges the constitutionality of the proposed National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) bill, which the company claims prohibits smoking in hotels and restaurants, CTC […]

May 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s securities watchdog is in the final stages of drawing up rules to make corporate governance mandatory among listed companies from January next year, a top official said Friday. The island’s quoted companies are famous for their cronyism in board rooms and lax corporate governance. The new rules, pushed […]

May 18 (LBO) – Attempts to widen the takeovers and mergers code to include indirect company takeovers is unlikely to work, Sri Lanka’s securities watchdog said Wednesday. Under the code, when a buyer triggers the 30 percent threshold of a target company, the firm has to make a mandatory offer to the remaining shareholders. The […]

Apr. 27 (LBO) – Seven persons who were caught promoting the GoldQuest network marketing scheme have been arrested in southern Sri Lanka, police said. Central Bank has now established a special investigation unit to look into pyramid scams, referral frauds, as well as other violations of laws administered by the regulator. The seven who were […]

Apr.04 (AFP) – Counter terrorism and anti-money laundering experts from South Asian nations began training with US experts in Colombo on Tuesday, the US embassy said.Some 40 South Asian regulators and lawmen from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka were attending the study sessions organised by the US department of justice and the Federal Bureau […]

Apr. 24 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police arrested five Maldivian nationals sparking unconfirmed rumours that the suspects were linked to Al-Qaeda, police and media reports said Monday.The five — two women, two children and a man — were taken into custody at the request of the Maldives government and handed over to the Maldivian high […]

Apr.24 (LBO) – The District Court Monday turned down a request by Malaysian based investor A P Jagaiah to postpone the NDB Bank’s annual general meeting. -LBO Newsdesk Jagaiah sought legal recourse after NDB Bank refused to register 9.36 percent or 5.2 million shares owned by him, the bank said in a statement. In a […]

NEW YORK, Apr.24 (AFP) – The former top executive of Computer Associates, Sanjay Kumar, pleaded guilty Monday to participating in a 2.2 billion dollar accounting fraud and obstructing a subsequent investigation. The Sri Lankan-born Kumar, former chairman and chief executive of the software and computer security giant, entered the guilty plea together with the company’s […]

Apr.23 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s immigration authorities have closed an internet-based commercial sex service run by foreign nationals, in the first such operation, officials said. The service run by persons of Ukrainian origin, and solicited clients via the website www.bananaescort.net, ended on April 12, after just two months of operations when sleuths from the Department […]