ComBank launches CBC Finance as successor to Serendib Finance

Friday, 1 January 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

(Above) CBC Finance Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe (centre), Senior Director Dr. Janaki Kuruppu (left) and Manager – Colombo Branch Prasad Baduwatta at the launch of CBC Finance and (Below) Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe, Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan and Chief Operating Officer Sanath Manatunge (3rd and 4th from left respectively), Dr. Janaki Kuruppu and CBC Finance Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Upul Dissanayake at the launch

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has announced the launch of CBC Finance Ltd., the Bank’s fully-owned Licenced Non-bank Finance Institution (NBFI), formerly known as Serendib Finance and Indra Finance.

The formal re-naming of the entity acquired by the Bank in 2014 marks the completion of its transition into the Commercial Bank Group. The restructured company will operate under its new name and new corporate logo from 30 December 2020, the Bank said.

With this relaunch, the finance company can be instantly identified with its parent company, the benchmark private bank in Sri Lanka and the most awarded bank in the country.

Commercial Bank renamed Indra Finance as Serendib Finance Limited after the company’s acquisition. Total assets of the company have increased from Rs. 1.95 billion in 2014 to Rs. 8 billion as at end November 2020. CBC Finance operates 10 branches island-wide, delivering a wide range of financial services including vehicle leasing, mortgage and business loans and fixed deposits.

CBC Finance’s Fitch rating AA-(lka) is driven by the rating agency’s view that its parent company, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, the largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, would provide it with extraordinary support, if required. CBC Finance is a licensed finance company approved by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka under the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011.

Products offered by CBC Finance include leasing solutions for a wide range of vehicles and equipment including personal and commercial vehicles, special purpose vehicles, and agricultural equipment; fixed deposit facilities with attractive interest rates; and loan facilities including business loans, mortgage loans, and pledge loans. Its branches are located in Kandy, Colombo, Anuradhapura, Kaduruwela, Dambulla, Embilipitiya, Matara, Kiribathgoda, Kurunegala and Negombo.

The Company says it offers leasing customers the best lease rental rates and flexible payment options, tailor-made leasing packages, hassle-free documentation and quick approval processes, and special insurance packages.

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 ten years consecutively, Commercial Bank, which won more than 50 international and local awards in 2019, operates a network of 268 branches and 880 ATMs in Sri Lanka.

Commercial 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.