BANKING

HNB Finances Maalu Maalu Pasikudah

First resort to open in the East coast:

Hatton National Bank being one of the largest private sector financial facilitators in the country took a leading step towards development of the first boutique hotel Maalu Maalu Resort & Spa opened in the Eastern coast. This is the first resort to be opened under the Nagenahira Navodaya accelerated reconstruction programme of the government. The project was conceived by Connaissance de Ceylan Chairman Chandra Wickramasinghe renowned hotelier in the country. HNB was the sole financier of the hotel completed within a short period of 10 months.

This boutique hotel is located in the picturesque beach of Pasikudah and consists of 40 rooms with an excellent view of the ocean together with, private dining deck, Jacuzzi and Novel facilities which are in line with international standards.

The hotel was ceremonially opened by Economic Development Minister

Basil Rajapaksa on May 30, 2011. HNB has also joined hands with other developments towards meeting the country target of 8000 rooms in the East and 50,000 rooms in the entire country to facilitate the expected tourist arrivals.

MBSL lauded by shareholders at the AGM

The 29th Annual General Meeting of Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC (MBSL) was held on June 24, 2011 in the presence of a large gathering of shareholders. MBSL, a subsidiary of Bank of Ceylon, has recorded an impressive growth in performance, recording a net profit of Rs.450 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 in comparison to Rs 201 million in the previous year.

Several shareholders who commended the outstanding performance and tremendous progress made by the company, expressed their gratitude and appreciation to MBSL Chairman, M R Shah and thanked the Board of Directors and the senior management for steering the company to deliver results exceeding expectations.

The Chairman, M R Shah, addressing the shareholders stated that the Board of Directors, Senior Management and the staff are committed to protect the interest of the shareholders, the company and the economy of the country in the broader sense. He attributed the success of the company to team work among the employees. While thanking the shareholders for their trust and confidence, the Chairman indicated that he is optimistic of MBSL emerging as a strong and secure corporate with a significant asset base in the near future.

He also assured the shareholders of continuous value addition to their investment.

Pan Asia Bank opens in Peradeniya

Pan Asia Bank further expanded its branch network on June 30, 2011 with the opening of its 51st branch in Peradeniya, at No 767, Sirimavo Bandaranayake Mw. Peradeniya.

The inauguration of the new branch was marked by Kandy municipal council Mayor Raja Pushpakumara and the guest of honour Pan Asia Bank Chairman A G Weerasinghe.

Listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange and in operation for 16 years, it offers a full range of retail and business banking products and services.

Pan Asia Bank has already opened nine branches within the year, and continues its vigorous expansion drive with a view of achieving 25 new branches in 2011 and 100 branches by the end of 2012. Pan Asia Bank takes pride in its customer centric focus and will be offering a highly personalized service, competitive deposit and loan rates and an array of novel banking products including Champion Saver account with a very attractive interest of eight percent for a savings account, three types of minor savings accounts, Gold Loans with the highest advance amount up to Rs 41,000/- per sovereign, and leasing at the lowest market rate down to one percent.

Pan Asia bank Peradeniya branch is headed by Anuradha Wickramasinghe. The branch will be opened from 9 am to 4 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

DFCC Vardhana Bank signs MoUs with NWSDB and SLT

DFCC Vardhana Bank, the everyday banking unit of DFCC Bank and the leader of development banking, signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) recently; one with the National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) and the other with Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT). Present at the formal signing of the agreement between DVB and NWSDB were NWSDB Chairman Karunasena Hettiarachchi, NWSDB Vice Chairman Don Gamini Gunarathne, DFCC Vardhana Bank CEO, Laksman Silva, DFCC Vardhana Bank Company Secretary Board of Directors, Asoka Mendis.

These new partnerships now enable the added convenience of making bill payments towards the NWSDB and SLT from any of DVB’s branches.

This agreement is part of a move by DFCC Vardhana Bank to offer a greater range of services to its customers. Commenting on the signing of the agreements, DFCC Vardhana Bank’s CEO, Lakshman Silva stated, “Enabling easy bill payment via DFCC Vardhana is just one method of making our customer’s day-to-day activities more efficient. Interestingly, we have opened up this service to anyone, and you don’t have to be one of our customers to make use of this facility,” he said.

Commercial Bank relocates Nawalapitiya branch

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon, the bank rated internationally as Sri Lanka’s best, has shifted its Nawalapitiya branch to a more spacious location with enhanced parking facilities, for the benefit of customers.

The Nawalapitiya branch now located at 70A, Gampola Road, Nawalapitiya, is equipped with all facilities available at other Commercial Bank branches in Sri Lanka.

It is computer-linked to Commercial Bank’s 197 other branches and Supermarket Banking Counters in the country, enabling online real-time banking.

The branch’s two ATM machines are linked to 418 other ATMs of Commercial Bank in Sri Lanka and over one million terminals of the Cirrus (Mastercard network) and Visa networks worldwide.

Bancassurance achievers at NDB Bank Awards

A dazzling event was held at Cinnamon Lakeside in the presence of distinguished invitees recently to recognize the top achievers of the NDB Bank. Chief Guests were the NDB Bank CEO Russell de Mel and the AVIVA NDB Insurance Managing Director Shah Rouf.

NDB Bank and AVIVA NDB launched Bancassurance in 2006 and the innovative business line has shown year on year growth with the 2010 performance surpassing the previous year by an outstanding 369 percent. The world-class product portfolio includes traditional and investment-linked life insurance products and the full range of General insurance products.

The Horana Branch of NDB Bank was the top performer for Life insurance for 2010, while Wattala and Pelawatte Branches emerged first and second Runners up respectively. The Colombo 6 Branch of NDB Bank was the Overall Winner of the 2010 Life Insurance competition.

The Pelawatte Branch led the performance in General insurance with Kurunegala Branch and Wattala Branch being first and second Runners up respectively. Chaminda Dinesh of NDB Bank was awarded the Best Relationship Manager (General insurance) for Corporate Banking.

The top performers of the AVIVA NDB team were also recognized for their outstanding performances in Life and General insurance in 2010. Tharaka Mudalige was the Best Team Leader (Life).

The top Gold Award for the Best Life Bancassurance Sales Executive was awarded to Choliya Sanjeewa, while Hasith Jayathilake walked away with the Silver Award and the Bronze Award went to Anton John. Hasith Jayathilake was also the Best Performer for General insurance while Jaliya Bandara received the Gold Award for Highest Value Generation for General insurance.