Category: Banking and Finance

Sept 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC branch defended its record in the island following a threat by the country’s opposition leader to cancel its license in the future over its involvement in a planned international bond issue. Opposition United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has earlier said that parliamentary approval has not been […]

Sept 05, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka said it was maintaining a rating watch on six regional banks which was imposed following a government announcement that they would be merged with two other newly created state banks. Fitch put five regional banks on rating watch ‘evolving’ indicating that the rating could be changed after […]

Sept 03, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has affirmed the ‘A (lka) national rating given to lease-backed securities of Senkadagala Finance Company, which has a ‘BBB+ (lka)’ rating with a stable outlook. The Lease Backed Trust Certificates (LBTCs) were issued by the special purpose vehicle Senkadagala Finance Trust Three (SFT3) with its credit enhanced […]

September 01, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed the AAA (lka) rating of HSBC’s Sri Lanka branch with a ‘stable’ outlook, the rating agency said. HSBCSL is the largest foreign bank in Sri Lanka in term of assets and operates 14 branches in Sri Lanka, primarily in the Colombo district. HSBC Sri Lanka […]

Sept 1, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank’s has started an electronic cash transfer method lets account holders transfer cash to all mobile brands or CDMA phone, officials said. “This facility will let customers send money to any person with a mobile phone or a CDMA phone without changing SIM cards. All you need […]

August 30, 2007 (LBO) – Citibank’s Sri Lanka unit net profits zoomed 82 percent in the first half of 2007 driven by hefty foreign exchange gains, interim results released by the bank showed.However the bank’s total loan book grew to 13.5 billion rupees from 9.7 billion and gross assets grew to 27.1 billion from 24.0 […]

August 28, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed the AA (lka) rating on HDFC Bank Series A mortgage backed securities, the rating agency said. The rating relates to the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal on Series-A certificates issued by the Home Loan Securitisation Trust 2005 (HLST), a special […]

August 25, 2007 (LBO) – Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank has reached out to 124 million poorest families globally during its 31 years of existence, its founder, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says. The Grameen Bank reaches into ‘risky market segments that formal banking sectors in poor countries dare not reach, touching the lives of millions of people. […]

August 23, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Ratings Agency (LRA) has confirmed an A2 long-term institutional rating of Mercantile Investments with a stable outlook. LRA is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of RAM Holdings Berhad of Malaysia. RAM is also an affiliate of Standard & Poor’s, the world’s largest rating agency. Corrected Mercantile Investment is the third […]

August 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sanasa Development Bank (SDB), a Sri Lankan bank that promotes micro finance hopes to expand its network to northern and eastern province an official said. The micro finance institution has increased its branches up to 30 throughout the island during the firm’s first catering to an increasing number of account […]

August 23, 2007 (LBO) – Allianz Lanka Insurance Company, a unit of German insurance giant Allianz SE said premium income grew 34 percent to 246 million rupees in the six months to June. Its pre-tax profits for the period shot up 275 percent to 17.4 million rupees from 4.6 million in 2006, the firm said […]

August 23, 2007 (LBO) – The spot dollar peaked at 112.35 against the Sri Lanka rupee Thursday as the local currency sought the next resistant level, dealers said. In the cash markets interbank rates remained around 20 percent with more access to the central bank’s discount window. The market closed at 112.30/40 rupees against the […]