In a bizarre and perhaps unprecedented development, the T+3 settlement deadline as per rule in the Colombo Bourse on National Savings Bank's purchase of a 13% stake in The Finance Company Plc (TFC) hadn't been met yesterday. NSB bought the stake amounting to 7.8 million shares for Rs. 393 million on Friday. As per the ...

One week on, NSB has remained silent concerning the purchase of a 13% stake in The Finance Company Plc (TFC) at a hefty premium, prompting analysts to claim the savings giant was either ignoring or confirming controversies and allegations levelled by the UNP and the market. This assertion is despite TFC on Wednesday issuing a ...

Dear Editor, During the past few months, I have observed criticism, mainly by the Opposition Parliamentarians, about the manner in which the Sri Lankan economy has been managed. In my view, their attempts seem to be designed to impose blame on the Governor, Central Bank, perhaps to weaken his resolve and strength and discourage him. ...

CB asks banks overnight for their forex commitments for Thursday and Friday; steps up bank visits Convenes meeting with treasury heads of banks; rupee crisis figures in monthly CB-bank CEOs meeting as well Dealers say no room for speculation given the very narrow net open positions; new rules apart from lack of dollars could be ...

Peradeniya Uni's Dr. Perera says exchange volatility is temporary and acceptable IMF's Mathai says no crisis but stability measures taken By Cheranka Mendis UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday made a compelling case that the ‘feel good’ party that the President Mahinda Rajapaksa Government tried to propagate among the people post-war was over, warning ...

As  a minority shareholder I thank Daily FT for highlighting the highway robbery committed by the directors of leading banks, which are ultimately owned by the public via the shareholdings of SLIC, EPF and ETF. What you have highlighted in your article is only the tip of the iceberg, in terms

This has reference to the article titled ‘Boom for Bank Boards!’ which appeared in the Daily FT dated 23 April 2012. In this regard, we wish to clarify that, there were only nine Directors at the HNB Board as at December 2011. The compensation for Directors for the financial

Sequel to the Daily FT’s expose yesterday on board remunerations, analysts said that it was executive pay that led to bloated costs of boards and not that non-executive or independent directors get fat cheques. They pointed out that top firms in board remuneration such as HNB, Commercial Bank

Confirming Daily FT’s article last Wednesday, Seylan Bank on Friday announced the appointment of Mohan Pieris as its new Chairman and said the former Attorney General will further strengthen the Bank’s Board. “With his exposure in the spheres of Banking, Finance and Commerce

Clarifies 2011 per capita GDP computation technically correct but given fall in Rupee’s value in 2012 Central Bank should have been honest with greater disclosure and putting data in context As per IMF staff report Net International Reserves in 2011 alarming low at $ 4 b; Net Open Position below $ 3 b; Short Term ...

HNB Board was richest in 2011 whilst colleagues at Sampath got less than 2010 The country’s most profitable sector, the commercial banks, whilst having increased bottom line also saw their Board directors taking home a tidy sum. A sample of seven commercial banks analysed by the Daily FT

UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva backs Daily FT columnist on per capita income data, claimsfigures too inflated and Govt. trying to mislead people and global stakeholders; CB getting more politicised By Uditha Jayasinghe Firing another salvo at the Central Bank, UNP MP and economist Dr. Harsha De Silva

The Central Bank, in its latest Annual Report, has downgraded its growth forecast for 2012 from eight per cent to 7.2 per cent. This is due to a combination of adverse global developments and the negative effects of domestic policy misalignments. The contractionary measures introduced to address the imbalance in the trade account (i.e. to ...

The Daily FT article published yesterday that stated that a former AG was to be appointed as Chairman of Seylan Bank gave me some concern. This trend of appointing retired Government servants close to the administrations to top positions in the private sector is a clear indication of the Central

Importers secure increase in age limit for cars and commercial vehicles; higher duty to stay President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday stepped up the accelerator for re-conditioned vehicles agreeing to revise the recently imposed age limit rules at a meeting with importers. Responding to pleas by motorists as well as Vehicle Importers Association, the President has agreed ...

The Daily FT on Thursday featured on page 1 a story based on some startling comments and allegations by UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva and young business leader Dilith Jayaweera. The headlines and the contents wouldn’t have been a good read for President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The CBSL’s directive issued last year, which takes into account credit, market, operational and liquidity risk, is very much in line with the recommendations of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), which recommends in particular capital adequacy for government banks, said internationally-renowned risk consultant and CEO/Principal of Independent Global Research Ltd. David Roden. Addre...

The country’s forex market encompassing highly dependent importers and key source exporters was yesterday rocked by what analysts described as the sharpest day gain in the US dollar exchange rate. Before mid-day the Rupee touched a new low of Rs. 127 and then on to Rs. 128 prompting many to assume the rate had bottomed ...

By Cheranka Mendis Despite the Central Bank’s forecast reading 7.2% growth for 2012, RAM Ratings Lanka CEO Adrian Perera is confident that the country can touch the 7.5%-7.6% mark by the end of the year. Perera told the Daily FT that the new projection is a realistic number from the 8% noted

A top line up of specialists will be the key attraction of the annual management conference organised by the Colombo University MBA Alumni Association on Friday 16 March from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be the Chief Guest at the conference titled ‘Beyond Traditional Boundaries,’ ...

Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider CIMB Group is bullish on post-war Sri Lanka and prospects for financial services. Early this week CIMB entered into a strategic collaboration with John Keells Stock Brokers as part of a phased entry in to Sri Lanka. CIMB Group is also one of ASEAN’s leading universal banking groups and ...

The converting business ideas into an action program is based upon seven principles: Team members’ ideas for improving how work is done are valuable as they are derived from first-hand experience of their organisation’s waste of time, effort and materials. Team members’ voluntary contributions of ideas result in greater productivity and enhanced service quality. Coaxing ...

Hot on the heels of the Daily FT story yesterday regarding a high powered Transport Ministry team is in Beijing to finalise the China’s Exim bank funding for Matara-Kataragama rail track extension, the Finance Ministry said yesterday that the Government of the People’s Republic of China

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be the Chief Guest at the Colombo University MBA Alumni Association annual management conference titled ‘Beyond Traditional Boundaries’ on 16 March at the Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo. This year’s focus on the conference is ‘Mastering Your Game’ and Rajapaksa, whose Ministry also includes the Urban Development, as Chief Guest is...

SLIC books hefty Rs. 4 b capital gain as an eager Harry secures large block; Ups control to 40.8%; Melstacorp to revise Spence mandatory offer price to Rs. 115 per share from Rs. 113 Business tycoon Harry Jayawardena-linked Melstacorp Ltd. yesterday acquired a strategic block of an 11% stake in Aitken Spence Plc for Rs. ...

Minority shareholders are strongly objecting to Watawala Plantation Plc’s (WATA) proposed sale of its marketing subsidiary, the company’s cash cow, to majority shareholder Estate Management Services Ltd. Their opposition is likely to be vehemently expressed today at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) convened for shareholder approval. Last month, WATA in a brief filing to the ...

Though the birth rate may be static, the country’s vehicle population is tipped to double in the next decade necessitating urgent expansion in road network lest the motorists get choked in traffic. As per forecasts made by the Ministry of Transport, the current vehicle population is 130 vehicles per 1,000 people and this is estimated ...

Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, during World War II, said that his brand of fascism ‘should be more appropriately called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power’. Compare this with the dictionary definition of capitalism: ‘A system in which a country’s business and industry are controlled and run for ...

In Daily FT article titled ‘Pan Asia Bank after tax profit up 128% to record Rs. 824 m in 2011’ the accompanying picture of CEO Claude Peiris had been inadvertently captioned as Acting CEO whilst the article had the correct reference. We regret the error.

Executive Vice President and CEO says IFC will explore a good mix of enhanced financing and advisory services on a range of sectors apart from promoting FDIs to the country Encouraged by the post-war optimism the World Bank’s private sector investment arm – International Finance Corporation (IFC) yesterday revealed plans to expand its support in ...