News & market updates

CG Corp Global renewed its commitment to Sri Lanka and said it will expand investments, noting it is the largest shareholder in Union Bank of Colombo. The group plans further expansion in hospitality, financial services, e-mobility and is exploring renewable energy, real estate and cement.

Union Bank of Colombo CEO Dilshan Rodrigo denied online media allegations as entirely false, saying the bank remains financially stable, well-governed and operates transparently under Central Bank regulations.

Union Bank of Colombo PLC appointed Dr. Dharmasiri Kumaratunge as an Independent Non-Executive Director. He is an ex-Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka with 35+ years' experience in payments, fintech and digital transformation and is a Mastercard consultant.

John Keells Holdings and Union Bank launched the ZERO-DOWN plan for VIMAN Ja-Ela: Union Bank will provide 75% upfront as a milestone-disbursed home loan with customers paying monthly installments and the remaining 25% equity to John Keells Properties at project completion in ~two years.

UB Finance (UBF.N0000) reopened its expanded and refurbished Rathnapura branch at No.105/1, Colombo Road on 4 November. The branch offers deposits, leasing, hire purchase, term and gold loans and factoring services; UB Finance is a subsidiary of Union Bank.

APB hosted a CPDC session where NCGIL CEO Jude Fernando outlined a proposed credit guarantee scheme to improve MSME access to finance and lower lending risks for banks.

Government will compile a comprehensive report on SME loans and is reviewing whether to extend a temporary suspension of debt recovery under the Parate law that currently expires on 15 December. The Central Bank and commercial banks are preparing the loan data to design targeted relief and assess feasibility.

A seminar on 27 Nov will outline Central Bank-issued corporate governance directives for licensed banks, which take effect 1 Jan 2025 and include requirements such as a minimum of 12 board meetings per year and vacancy for directors missing more than three meetings.

Government will compile a comprehensive report on SME loans to design relief and is evaluating extending a temporary suspension of debt recovery under the Parate law due to expire on Dec 15. Representatives from Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank, Union Bank and Sampath Bank attended the meeting.

Banks, regulators and SMEs met at the Presidential Secretariat to discuss SME loan repayment difficulties and parate execution; the parate execution law has been suspended until Dec 15. The Central Bank and commercial banks will evaluate temporary suspension of debt recovery and compile a report to design relief.

Kavinda de Zoysa has been appointed Chairman of Bank of Ceylon; he is a career banker with over 30 years’ experience and was most recently Director and Country Business Head of Citibank Sri Lanka, with a track record in digitization and corporate banking.

Union Bank of Colombo has partnered with USAID's Climate Adaptation Project to enhance its capacity to provide climate adaptation finance and advisory services for the agriculture and tourism sectors.

Dinesh Weerakkody has been appointed chairman of Union Bank of Colombo, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Nirvana Chaudhary (who will remain on the board as a director). Union Bank's majority shareholder is Culture Financial Holdings (Binod Choudhary), which holds a 70.84% stake.

Union Bank of Colombo Plc appointed Dinesh Weerakkody as Chairman effective September 30 after Nirvana Chaudhary stepped down. Chaudhary will remain a director; Weerakkody was an independent non-executive director and formerly chaired Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank.

Private credit in Sri Lanka rose by Rs135bn in August 2024, up from Rs60bn in July. The pickup supports bank lending but occurs amid central bank deflationary policy and warnings about inflation and rupee pressure.

Intellect Design Arena launched eMACH.ai in Sri Lanka — a composable open-finance platform offering 329 microservices, 535 events and over 1,757 APIs to help banks design future-ready technology. Named local clients include HDFC Sri Lanka, Cargills Bank, Central Finance, CDB, Seylan Bank and Union Bank of Colombo.

Intellect Design Arena launched eMACH.ai in Sri Lanka — a composable open-finance platform with 329 microservices, 535 events and over 1,757 APIs — and cited local customers including HDFC, Cargills Bank, Central Finance, Seylan Bank and Union Bank as users/partners.

Fitch affirmed UB Finance PLC's national long-term rating at 'BB(lka)' but revised the outlook to Negative. Fitch cited UBF's weak financial profile—poor asset quality, weak earnings, thin capital buffers and deposit concentration—and linked the outlook to parent Union Bank of Colombo PLC's Negative outlook.

Fitch revised the Outlook on UB Finance PLC (UBF) to Negative and affirmed its National Long-Term Rating at 'BB(lka)'. The change reflects a similar Outlook downgrade for its parent, Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UBC), which owns 89.9% and provided a June 2024 capital infusion.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe prioritised economic stability and announced measures including a Rs.50 billion SME/MSME support fund, a new insolvency law, creation of a National Development Bank and an Economic Commission from 1 Jan 2025. He also pledged digitalisation of government services and stronger anti-corruption frameworks.

The Sri Lanka–Korea Business Council panel featured Advocata chair Murtaza Jafferjee warning that rising debt, high interest rates and sharp rupee depreciation threaten fiscal stability and require reforms; IMF projects about 3% annual GDP growth for 2024–29 contingent on disciplined policy.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon's home loans portfolio reached Rs. 72.965 billion as at 31 March 2024, making it the market leader in Sri Lanka's home loans. The bank — the first private sector leader in this segment — highlighted product offerings including first-time buyer schemes, Green Home Loans (including residential solar) and flexible repayment options.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon's home loans portfolio grew to Rs. 72.965 billion as at 31 March 2024, making it the market leader in Sri Lanka's home loans market. The bank highlighted product suites including first-time buyer, green and flexible home loan schemes.

Union Bank of Colombo appointed Dilshan Rodrigo as Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer effective August 16, replacing Indrajit Asela Wickramasinghe who retired on August 15. Rodrigo said the bank will refocus on retail and SME business across its 61 branches and pursue short- to medium-term balance-sheet growth targets.

Union Bank of Colombo signed an MoU with the University of Moratuwa and the National Innovation Agency to support and co-brand the National Entrepreneurship Development Program, offering a certificate course to train SMEs and youth and provide access to finance.