The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been conferred the coveted title of ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for the seventh time by Euromoney, one of the world’s leading financial markets magazines, at its Asia Awards for Excellence 2021. 

The prestigious Euromoney accolade is based on detailed submissions from market participants and extensive year-round research into the banking and capital markets in the region by the magazine’s editors, journalists, and research team.

According to Euromoney, the Asia Awards are seen as the benchmark for the leading firms in financial services in the region and are fiercely contested across numerous markets and categories. This year Euromoney received almost 1,000 submissions from banks for its regional and country awards programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and best bank awards in close to 100 countries.

“This is an award that any bank would be proud to have in its collection,” Commercial Bank Managing Director Mr S. Renganathan commented. “Winning seven, and especially one based on performance in a year dominated by the global pandemic, is a fitting tribute to the strength and mettle of the Bank. It is particularly noteworthy considering the substantial concessions and interest rate cuts we provided to help customers weather the impacts of lockdowns in 2020, as well as the higher impairment provisions we had to make in response to the conditions that prevailed.”

Among the aspects considered for the awards are qualitative and quantitative criteria such as market position, volume of business transacted, new product development, management system, credit ratings, efficiency ratios and annual key performance indicators.

Factors that contributed to Commercial Bank being adjudged the Best Bank in Sri Lanka are key indicators from the Bank’s 2020 performance, such as Market Capitalization, Gross Income, Profit before Tax, Profit after Tax, Total Assets, Total Deposits, Gross Loans, Market Share of Deposits, Market Share of Loans and CASA Ratio.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC is the largest private sector commercial bank, and the third largest bank overall in Sri Lanka in terms of total assets, which stood at Rs 1.736 trillion (USD 9.285 billion) as at the end of 2020. It is the only private sector bank that has been designated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as a higher-tier Domestic Systemically Important Bank (D-SIB). The Bank accounted for approximately 10.7%, 11.2% and 11.8% of sector Loans and Advances, Deposits and Assets respectively in 2020.

The Bank’s asset quality is one of the best in the industry, while its Current Accounts and Savings Accounts (CASA) made up 42.72% of total deposits in 2020, the highest among the peer banks.

The Bank launched 18 new products and services in pandemic impacted 2020 demonstrating its spirit in the face of adversity. Notably, six of these products were groundbreaking firsts of their kind in Sri Lanka.

Commercial Bank was also one of the leading banks in the country in providing pandemic relief to its customers. The Bank implemented its own relief schemes for different customer segments in addition to complying with Central Bank mandated concessions and reduced interest rates across all categories of loans by approximately 4% to 5% p.a. during the first half of 2020.

Euromoney's Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and were the first of their kind in the global banking industry. The Euromoney Magazine was created in 1969 to cover the re-emergence of the international cross-border capital markets. Euromoney reports on and champions global capital markets and their growth, and in the process has become the prime magazine of the wholesale financial world, its institutions and users.

Sri Lanka’s first wholly carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 931 automated machines in Sri Lanka. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.