Category: Banking and Finance

Nov 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank (NTB) ‘A (lka)’ long term rating has been confirmed with a ‘stable’ outlook, Fitch Ratings Lanka said. Fitch has also confirmed an ‘A(lka)’ on a 500 million senior debenture and an ‘A-(lka)’ rating on a billion rupees subordinated debenture. The banks loans books contain a […]

Nov 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank will support friendly mergers of banks, which can be difficult due to existing regulations, a media report said. Banks – especially those catering to different classes of risk – are needed to finance small and medium businesses. “We have had some feelers and have discussed it […]

Nov 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC branch’s ‘AAA(lka)’ long term rating has been confirmed with a ‘stable’ outlook backed by the ‘AA’ rating of Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Fitch Ratings Lanka said. By end June, the Sri Lanka branch of HSBC had increased its loan book 6.4 percent after contracting 12.4 […]

Nov 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has signed a deal with the central bank in Bangladesh to share financial information in tackling money laundering and terrorist financing, a statement said. “Money laundering and terrorist financing are often internationally connected activities,” the statement said. “Financial intelligence authorities also need to be internationally organized […]

Nov 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has allowed residents to buy stocks abroad and foreign investors have been allowed to buy into local corporate debt and insurers have been given permission to invest up to 20 percent of their reserves abroad. The exchange control relaxations are in effect from November 22, the government said […]

Nov 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan banks should provide more long-term loans and tax cuts in the government budget for 2011 are meant to encourage longer maturity lending, finance ministry secretary P B Jayasundera said. Key sectors of the economy like tea and rubber, where cultivators must wait several years for the first harvests, […]

NEW YORK, November 18, 2010 (AFP) – A sophisticated Malaysian cyber bandit hacked into the US Federal Reserve’s computers and also stole nearly half a million credit and debit card numbers, US prosecutors in New York said. Brian Parr, the head of the Secret Service’s New York office, said cyber crimes “not only affect our […]

Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon will start a branch that will stay open 24 hours to support government efforts to expand night economic activities in Colombo, an official said. The branch in Colombo’s Fort areas is expected to start on November 19, chairman Gamini Wickramasinghe said. The government legalized […]

Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – Chennai-based Indian Bank’s Sri Lanka branch will open new branches in former war torn areas and is looking to double its loan book over the next two and a half years, a top official said. Indian Bank has been in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo since 1932 and has mainly been […]

Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank said September 2010 quarter group net profit rose 31 percent to 808 million rupees from a year ago as non-interest income rose and interest expenses fell faster than costs. The performance of NDB’s investment banking cluster showed “significant improvement” over the corresponding period last year, […]

Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has assigned long- and short-term ratings of AAA and P1 to Sri Lanka’s state-owned People’s Bank (PB) with a stable outlook, a statement said. “PB’s investment portfolio is deemed to be of low risk as it is dominated by government securities, which constituted 99.34 percent of its […]

Nov 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon has beefed up its investment banking unit and is looking to win new business as the government is planning to sell down commercial enterprises in the stock market, a top official said. “The investing banking division will engage in equity participation, mergers and acquisitions, […]