SCB launches electronic treasury and foreign exchange services

Colombo: Sri Lanka - On line treasury is Standard Chartered Bank’s comprehensive proprietary Request for Quote foreign exchange service which is integrated into their industry leading Straight2Bank platform. The online FX service delivers fast automated prices from Standard Chartered Bank straight to any desktop. It leverages the Bank’s comprehensive coverage of the global FX markets supporting Swap, Forward and Spot pricing in over 100 currency pairs, twenty four hours a day. The on-line treasury eFX service provides a direct link to the Bank’s trading floors delivering fast, competitive, and consistent pricing.

The Bank’s presence as a major participant in International Foreign Exchange markets gives it the ability to deliver superior FX solutions to its customers. It leads the market in the Asian, African and Middle Eastern currencies while offering extremely competitive services in all major currencies with specialised onshore and offshore traders providing pricing in many illiquid and restricted currencies. Online Treasury offers a customer instant access to liquidity to efficiently achieve FX management objectives.

“We offer market transparency and real time prices to our customers” says Clive Haswell, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka. “He will have the ability to transact all ticket sizes including exact amount to the last decimal unit.”

Integration with the comprehensive range of Straight2Bank products and services across Cash, Trade and Securities Services enables a single point of access for the customer’s transaction, hedging, and information needs.

“Standard Chartered Bank believes in leading the way by example. We are strongly committed and responsible towards developing our regional markets. This is not the first time Standard Chartered has risen to the challenges in the market and I’m confident that there are many more to come” says Rukshan Dias, Head of Financial Markets, Sri Lanka.

“With the launch of our on-line treasury eFX service via our award winning proprietary electronic platform, Straight2Bank, clients now have a single point of access linking them to real time information from the trading floor while accessing Straight2Bank’s comprehensive range of products and services.

Focusing on client needs, we continue to enhance our eCommerce capabilities and strengthen our market leadership in Asia, Africa and Middle East markets and currencies,” said Tom Roche, Global Head of eCommerce and Retail Products Group, Global Markets, Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered Bank offers highly competitive pricing in G10 currencies. In the emerging market currencies, it is the first to trade a broad range of less liquid African currencies ranging from Kenyan Shilling to Tunisian Dinar and Namibian Dollar. It is also the first bank to auto quote Middle Eastern currencies around the clock.

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NDB Bank accounts accessible via 1000 ATM’s islandwide

In a highly diversified banking environment, NDB Bank has proved its mettle through innovative consumer banking solutions. NDB Bank has developed a reputation for innovative banking products and services that meet the real needs of its customers. NDB Bank was the first bank in Sri Lanka to issue a card with the new global branding of VISA International in 2006.

Using its Visa Debit Card, NDB Bank customers can access their accounts through over 1000 ATM’s across the island, including the North and East, not only at its own branches, but also at any Visa enabled ATM, islandwide, even at other banks. The NDB Bank Debit Card is also valid internationally and provides access to over one million Visa enabled ATM’s around the world. The card can also be used for retail payments at Visa enabled Merchant establishments. It can be used at over 12,000 merchants locally and NDB Bank customers can enjoy discounts at select merchant outlets. The NDB Bank Debit Card can also be used at over 25 million Visa merchants internationally making paying easier and more convenient. With this, the customers now don’t have to worry about carrying around piles of cash, because through the NDB Bank Debit Card they will have access to their account anytime, from anywhere and it is convenient during any emergency.

The customers can use their NDB Bank Debit Card to pay for day-to-day purchases in a faster, more convenient and safer way than carrying or using cash. VISA Debit Cards are widely accepted and can be used for daily purchases at the grocery store, dine at a restaurant, buying the perfect gift on foreign travels or just filling up a vehicle with fuel. The use of a NDB Bank Debit Card makes life simple for a customer as it debits the bank account directly – no bills to pay at the end of the month, and a monthly bank statement provides a detailed record of all purchases made, making it easier to manage expenses.

Obtaining a NDB Bank Debit Card is easy. Anyone opening a Current Account or an Individual or Joint Savings account at NDB Bank will be eligible for a NDB Bank Debit Card free of charge. Customers have the opportunity to choose from among ‘Regular Savings,’ ‘Flexi-savings,’ ‘Premium Savings,’ ‘Special Savings’ and ‘Vishmitha’ saving account to suit their need. No minimum salary requirements are required.

The bank’s hotline 2 488 888 is open for any queries or information 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Even if you lose your card, you can call the NDB Bank Call Centre and they will look into its suspension so that you don’t have to worry about travelling to the bank for its suspension.

With competitive rates, a rapidly expanding branch network and a multitude of delivery channels including Phone Banking and Internet Banking, NDB Bank provides its customers a host of convenient ways to keep in touch with their account whenever they want, from wherever they are. With a comprehensive product and service options to choose from NDB Bank strives to provide the very best in customer service for whatever product or service picked from its portfolio.

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Sri Lankan banks to focus on KYC, AML and Basel-II in 2008

i-flex solutions (Reuters: IFLX.BO & IFLX.NS), a leading provider of IT solutions to the global financial services industry today announced that it had conducted a survey of practitioners responsible for compliance and risk management in key domestic and foreign commercial banks (LCBs), specialized banks (LSBs) as well as registered finance companies (RFCs) in Sri Lanka.

The survey was designed to explore the key risk and compliance drivers and challenges facing Sri Lankan banks and readiness of Sri Lankan financial institutions to implement compliance and risk management initiatives
The survey found that bankers felt that the top two challenges they faced were internal to the bank - the need to standardise processes, and the availability of professionals with the required skills to do so.

Close to half of the respondents viewed the creation of better risk management capability and risk management standards, as the most important factor influencing their decision to upgrade or implement new risk and compliance initiatives.
The survey found that a majority of the respondents want to adopt an integrated, or at least a partially integrated, approach as part of their Risk and Compliance roadmap

Sri Lankan banking professionals believe that 2008 would be the year when Sri Lankan banks will upgrade their technology infrastructure to meet compliance requirements related to Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML) and to meet the stipulations of the Basel II accord.

Saloni Ramakrishna, Principal Architect for Risk and Compliance Solutions, Asia Pacific & Japan, i-flex solutions and also the lead for the survey, said: “The need to build internationally aligned risk and compliance frameworks, and the need to address the critical issue of Basel norms on one side, and combating the twin menace of money laundering and terrorism financing on the other, is a priority for a systematic and integrated approach to Risk and Compliance initiatives for Sri Lankan banks. This thinking is in line with the global trend of convergence and integration in the Risk & Compliance space”.

An interesting fact from the survey findings is that “clear guidelines from regulators” do not figure in the top 3 concerns which is refreshingly different from the findings in some other parts of Asia. This clearly goes to the credit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka,” she further added.

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Seylan Bank commences pawning at Kandy branch

Seylan Bank Kandy branch recently commenced Pawning. Picture shows K D W Rohana, Deputy General Manager - Region IV of Seylan Bank cutting the ribbon in the presence of Tudor Abeykoon, Area Manager - Region IV, Dinesh Jebamani, Manager – Pawning, Melanga De Silva, Senior Manager – Kandy Branch and S Perera, Credit Manager – Kandy branch

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Vardhana Junior holds first Children’s Day

DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB), the everyday banking unit of DFCC Bank recently concluded the second Vardhana Junior Children’s Day event last Sunday. The fun filled event was held at John Keells Housing Scheme playground at Enderamulla.
This collaborative initiative was organised by the Kiribathgoda, Kadawatha and Wattala DVB branches. It was organised with the intention of promoting the Vardhana Junior children’s savings account which was re-launched in May earlier this year.

A fun filled event intended to provide a day of entertainment for children, Vardhana Junior Children’s Day commenced with the intention of creating awareness among parents and children on saving responsibly through a smart savings campaign. The celebrations offered children a variety of games, gifts and surprises. Prizes were given to children who participated in games while a DJ kept the atmosphere alive with music. All children who participated at the Vardhana Junior Children’s Day walked away with fabulous gifts.

Subsequent to the first Children’s Day event held at the Harithasara Udyanaya in Thalapathpitiya earlier this month, Vardhana Junior Children’s Day at Enderamulla is the second successive children’s day event to be organised by DVB this month. The initial Vardhana Junior Children’s Day at Thalapthpitiya was also a collaborative initiative organised by 05 DVB branches - Nawala, Nugegoda, Kottawa, Maharagama and Malabe- which was an enormously successful event. A series of Vardhana Junior Children’s Day events are scheduled to be held island-wide during the next few months in order to promote the amazing benefits that the children’s savings account has to offer.

The Vardhana Junior savings account, with its super added benefits was re launched this year with the aim of encouraging children to save from a young age. The only children’s savings account which offers a dole system payment and a free life insurance cover of Rs. 100,000, the Vardhana Junior savings account reassures parents of their child’s financial security. Moreover, this fantastic savings account which comes with tiered interest rates is designed to assist children in their pursuits of higher education.

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20 Eagles qualified to attend MDRT Conference in Canada

Eagle’s Financial Services Advisors Ajith Fernando and M. A. I. A. Perera have achieved the rare distinction of being admitted to the ‘Court of the Table’ of the Million Dollar Round Table, an honour which is reserved for insurance sales performers with over triple the minimum requirement for MDRT. Ajith Fernando has achieved this distinction for the sixth time and is the first Sri Lankan to be admitted to the ‘Court of the Table.’

20 insurance advisors of Eagle Insurance Company have qualified to attend the annual Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) conference this year where the best insurance producers in the world gather annually. MDRT is an international network of leading insurance and investment financial service professionals and advisors who serve their clients by exemplary performance and the highest standards of ethics, knowledge and productivity.

With a membership of nearly 30,000 insurance salespersons from about 450 insurance companies around the world, the MDRT conference, held in Ontario, Canada, is the most prestigious global event that a life insurance salesperson can attend.
“With the excellent performances by our insurance advisors, the numbers of MORT qualifiers keep increasing,” says Managing Director, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi, commending these professionals on their achievement. “It’s no easy task to qualify. Training facilities provided by Eagle, hard work and consistency pave the way for them to achieve this goal.”

Qualifying to attend the MDRT is a dream come true for these individuals. To qualify for it, the insurance advisor should achieve the necessary criteria covering several aspects including new business generation, productivity, customer retention, and provision of superior service.

Eagle Insurance, in line with its ‘human talent management’ strategies, continuously supports the development of the members of the Eagle Team with Wings, to achieve international standards of professionalism and distribution effectiveness.
Eagle Insurance gained due recognition for its commitment to the training and development of staff and sales force when the National Human Resources Award for ‘Best Training and Development Strategy and Practice’ was awarded to the Company in the first ever HR Awards in Sri Lanka.

Eagle is an Aviva Company. Aviva is the world’s oldest insurance group, with a history dating back 300 years to 1696. Today, it is the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. The group has 57,000 employees serving 45 million customers worldwide with more than Sterling Pounds 364 billion assets under management.

The following are among the 20 qualifiers: Ajith Fernando - Colombo, M A. I. A. Perera - Chilaw, D G A. Swarna - Anuradhapura, M C H S Peiris - Colombo, W A K R.Weerakoon - Colombo, Sampath Gunawardena - Kotte, W J S. Fernando - Negombo, M K. Miranda - Negombo, W M C Tissera - Negombo, K N. Tissera - Kalutara, . W M Kularatne - Kegalle, Dileepa Ameendra - Ambalantota, S Padmawathie - Anuradhapura, K P N. Balawardhana - Colombo, H A S Priyantha - Colombo, S A. Gamage - Colombo, K J R. Kumara - Colombo, K H.H. Wimalasena - Colombo and MDT. Aponso - Colombo.

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Fitch confirms HNB AA- rating

Fitch Ratings Lanka has affirmed Sri Lanka-based Hatton National Bank Plc’s (HNB) National Long-term rating at ‘AA-(lka)’ (AA minus (lka)), reflecting the bank’s good profitability, asset quality and solvency. At the same time, Fitch has also affirmed the ‘A+(lka)’ rating of the bank’s subordinated debentures. The Outlook remains Stable.

HNB maintained a loan growth of 19.8% in FY07 above the banking system’s average loan growth of 18.9%, although this level of growth is not expected to be sustained in the current economic environment. Focus for the bank has remained primarily on the consumer segment, which comprised 49% of loans at FYE07. Meanwhile, credit concentrations remained high at FYE07, as the five largest total exposures accounted for 11% of HNB’s loans and 84% of its equity, including related party exposures at 5% of loans and 35% of equity at FYE07.

The bank’s profitability as measured by ROA increased to 1.43% in FY07 and compared favourably against most of its peers, due to an expansion in interest margins (5.51% in FY07 against 4.99% in FY06) arising from higher yields that reflected HNB’s aforementioned customer segment exposures. However, its ROA dipped to 1.24% at Q108 owing to increased operating costs, and could come under further pressure as a result of reduced margins due to the potential difficulties in passing on high funding costs, rising operating costs and increased provision charges.

Following the implementation of the Basel II framework in FY08, HNB’s core and total capital adequacy ratios declined by 230bps and 172bps to 7.9% and 10.3%, respectively, at Q108, largely due to the additional charge for operational risk. Significant revaluation surpluses arising from the revaluation of its land and buildings constituted 26% of equity at FYE07. Nonetheless, capitalisation remained adequate, as indicated by equity/assets (excluding revaluation surpluses) of 6.8% at FYE07 (8.9% unadjusted), and is supported by strong profitability and profit retention.

HNB’s gross NPL ratio has continued to improve from 14% at FYE03, and decreased to 6.0% at FYE07 from 7.1% at FYE06, due to greater focus on recoveries. However, by Q108, the ratio declined to 6.8%, a deterioration also observed across its peers, stemming from the challenging macroeconomic environment. Specific provision coverage rose to 67.2% at FYE07 from 66.8% at FYE06, while general provisions (including mandatory regulatory provisions) accounted for 0.5% of loans at FYE07. Consequently, the net NPL/equity ratio (excluding revaluation surpluses) improved to 18.7% at FYE07 (14.1% unadjusted) from 23.2% at FYE06 but deteriorated to 26.8% at Q108. Fitch expects these ratios to deteriorate further on account of more stringent regulatory classification of NPLs and a probable decline in asset quality.

HNB is Sri Lanka’s second-largest private bank and the fourth-largest Licensed Commercial Bank in Sri Lanka, accounting for 9.6% of banking system assets at FYE07. Entities related to the Stassens group and the Browns Group held 24% and 15% of the bank’s voting equity as at FYE07.
HNB has a 1.78% shareholding in Fitch Ratings Lanka but is not involved in either the day-to-day operations or credit rating reviews undertaken by Fitch Ratings Lanka.

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Chandula invited to speak at Micro Finance Forums

Chandula Abeywickrema, Deputy General Manager (Personal Banking and Network Management) of Hatton National Bank PLC and also the Chairman of the Banking with the Poor (BWTP) Network, one of the largest Asia Micro Finance Network, has been invited by 3 of the largest Micro Finance Forums to be held during July and August.

The First is the ‘Asia Pacific Regional Micro Credit Summit’ to be held in Bali, Indonesia from July 28th to 30th, where he will speak on the topic of ‘The role of Commercial Banks in Micro Finance in the emerging markets.’ This Micro Credit Summit is one of the largest with expected attendance of over 1000 Micro Credit Practitioners, Policy Makers and Regulators.

The Second, is the ‘Asian Bankers Association’s Conference’ to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 18th to 19th Chandula Abeywickreme has already been given the task of being the Micro Finance Team Leader in the Asian Bankers Association and he would be one of the 4 main speakers along with Dr. John Conroy, Dr. J C Parrenas and the Deputy General Governor of the Bank of Philippines. Here too, Chandula would be speaking on the ‘Role of Commercial Banks in Micro Finance in the Emerging Markets.’ Three of his main ideas also have been incorporated in the Asian Bankers Association (ABA) policy papers which are to be presented to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) by the end of the year.

The Third, in which Chandula Abeywickrema is involved very much and taking a leadership role in is the ‘Asia Micro Finance Forum’ to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam from August 26th to 30th where over 350 Policy Makers, Regulators and Practitioners from the Asia Pacific Region would participate. Chandula, who is the Chairman of the Banking with the Poor (BWTP) Network, is organising this forum and has taken major initiatives towards the success of this Micro Finance Forum in Hanoi, together with the Foundation for Development Corporation (FDC), Australia and Citigroup. In addition to his role as the Chairman of the BWTP, Chandula is currently the Deputy General Manager (Personal Banking and Network Management) at Hatton National Bank PLC, who drives, spearheads and overseas the acclaimed Micro Finance Programme of HNB Gami Pubuduwa where a portfolio of over Rs. 5 bn is servicing over 100,000 Micro Entrepreneurs most successfully implemented by the bank.

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