ComBank nominated ‘Bank of the Year’ for seventh time

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon bank has been declared Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year 2008’ by ‘The Banker,’ the reputed UK-based Magazine that serves the international banking community.

Commercial Bank has won this award, the ‘Oscar’ of the international banking industry, seven out of nine times that the Magazine has conducted the awards event.

Assessments for the Bank of the Year Awards are based on detailed questionnaires answered by banks. This year, 740 banks from 150 countries submitted questionnaires to The Banker’s editorial team. The Magazine awarded 160 ‘Bracken’ awards to the winners worldwide for 2008.

“This award is a timely reaffirmation that Commercial Bank remains an icon of the best practice and stability in a turbulent environment,” Commercial Bank’s Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne said.

“Public confidence in some financial institutions has been shaken but the Commercial Bank’s soundness has been repeatedly reaffirmed.

This nomination by an independent international Magazine, whose views carry immense weight, is the latest.”

The Bank of the Year award reflects not only the latest results, growth rates and performance data over the period covered by the questionnaires but also an analysis of all available material including technology, acquisitions and key strategic developments. This award for the Best Bank in each country is for the best overall performance incorporating performance criteria, qualitative achievements and strategic initiatives.

At this year’s Bracken Awards, BNP Paribas won the Global Bank of the Year 2008. Among the regional award winners were ICBC for Asia, BNP Paribas for Western Europe, Raiffeisen International for Central Eastern Europe, Banco Santander for Latin America, National Bank of Kuwait for the Middle East and Standard Bank for Africa.

Among the country award winners ranked alongside Commercial Bank were the State Bank of India, ICBC (China), HSBC (Hong Kong), HSBC Group (UK), JP Morgan (US), DBS Bank (Singapore), BNP Paribas (France), Commerzbank (Germany), National Bank of Pakistan and Public Bank (Malaysia).

The Bank was recently named one of the top 1000 banks of the world and ranked 155th in the world on Soundness, by ‘The Banker’ Magazine.

It has also been rated the ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for ten consecutive years by US based ‘Global Finance’ Magazine. In July 2007, the Bank was named the ‘Best Bank’ in Sri Lanka by another prestigious international financial Magazine ‘Euromoney’.