Category: Banking and Finance

LONDON, August 1, 2010 (AFP) – British banks must use first-half profits to boost lending to businesses, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in an interview on Sunday, ahead of key results for the nation’s top lenders. “But the industry’s ability to support the economy needs to be considered as the increased capital and […]

July 30, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s PABC Bank’s net profit for the June 2010 quarter fell 60 percent to 83 million rupees from a year earlier, despite lower loan loss provisions, as fee income fell steeply. Interest income fell 17 percent to 704 million rupees amid a falling rate environment and interest expenses fell […]

July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Informal entities that have been operating as Islamic financiers in Sri Lanka will have to get their houses in order and become fully compliant with supervisory regulations ahead of a new law on deposit taking, an industry official said. “Some IFIs (Islamic financial institutions), because the owner is a well […]

July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank has opened two more branches in the former northern war zone of the Jaffna peninsula where economic activity is reviving, a statement said. “Residents of the Northern Province are now served by 11 Commercial Bank branches and service points with the simultaneous opening of two new […]

July 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka could issue Islamic finance sovereign bonds or ‘Sukuks’ and take the lead in becoming a regional centre for Islamic financial services which other countries with less experience are aiming for, an official said. “Australia and Mauritius have said they want to be hubs for Islamic finance,” says Rushdi […]

July 28, 2010 (LBO) – Depositors of a failed Sri Lankan finance company desperate to get their money back want to petition the United Nations human rights council saying their fundamental rights have been violated, a spokeswoman said. Only a few depositors had benefitted from a government repayment scheme for those who had money in […]

July 26, 2010 (LBO) – Depositors in a failed Sri Lankan finance company have been paid back part of their money in the first phase of a repayment scheme with assets of the firm to be sold to raise more funds, the regulator said. “The committee will decide on the next installment of payment to […]

July 25, 2010 (LBO) – State-run Indian Bank headquartered in Chennai, India is planning to open a branch in Sri Lanka’s former war torn Northern Jaffna peninsular and also in the central hills of the island, a media report said. The bank has another overseas branch in Singapore and is also looking at opening one […]

July 24, 2010 (LBO) – A start-up Sri Lankan bank that has just raised 3.2 billion rupees in capital through a private placement wants to lure Middle Eastern funds and lend for infrastructure projects, an official said. Amana Bank is part of Sri Lanka’s Amana Islamic finance group that already has insurance and merchant banking […]

July 23, 2010 (LBO) – Amana Bank Limited, a start up Sri Lankan firm which had provisional approval from the regulator to become a bank, said it had raised 3.2 billion in capital through a private placement. A tombstone placed in The Daily Mirror newspaper said the firm had raised 3,159 million rupees by selling […]

July 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government is to set up a dedicated authority to regulate micro-finance institutions to make their supervision more effective, a government minister said. A previous effort to regulate micro-finance institutions in 2006 through the central bank was abandoned because a separate, independent authority was considered more appropriate. Micro finance […]

July 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group net profit shot up 66 percent to 312 million rupees in the June 2010 quarter from a year ago as interest margins improved, a stock exchange filing said. Deposits and performing loans grew slightly and the bank managed to reduce bad loans. Interest income fell […]