Sub-Committee for Compliance of FHA to hold Compliance Symposium on 6 Dec.

The Sub-Committee for Compliance of the Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka will host its compliance Symposium themed ‘Bring Compliance into Focus’ on 6 December to address key areas in the field of compliance. 

The illustrious membership of the Sub-Committee for Compliance is drawn from ex-officio Compliance Officers of Licensed Finance Companies in Sri Lanka, which are members of the Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka. Compliance officers of any finance company ensure the financial health of the company, keeping it in line with regulations and directing investments, and are thus a vital component of the company.

The Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka is the successor to the pioneering ‘The Ceylon Hire Purchase & Finance Association’ formed in 1958. The Ceylon Hire Purchase & Finance Association was successively renamed ‘The Hire Purchase and Finance Association of Sri Lanka’ in 1977 and ‘The Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka’(FHA) in 1986. The FHA was incorporated under the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982, in July 2001, and thereafter, it was reregistered under the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007.

The Sub-Committee for Compliance (SCC) of the Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka (FHA) was formed on 9 April with the following objectives:

i.Provide a forum for discussion of compliance-related issues of the members of the Sub-Committee.

ii. Represent the views and serve as a focal point for bringing issues faced by members to the attention of the relevant parties, including the FHA, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and other regulatory bodies and negotiate on behalf of the members to achieve a common goal. 

iii. To reach a consensus among the membership with regard to the approach to be taken when liaising with regulatory authorities on new laws and regulations that are enacted.

iv. Undertake, promote and facilitate studies and discussions in the field of compliance in Licensed Finance Companies (LFCs).

v. Organise and promote research and to undertake studies in the field of compliance.

vi. Plan and organise teaching and arrange training programs in the field of compliance for LFCs.

vii. Promote understanding, cooperation and fellowship between the LFCs. 

viii. Engage in any other activities connected with or incidental to the above objectives.

In keeping with these aims, the SCC has been actively providing guidance and support to its members and their companies through a series of events and activities. In the first eightmonths since inception, the SCC organised threeevents, titled ‘Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) System Evaluation for Finance Companies’, ‘Training on Finance Business Act Direction No. 03 of 2018 on Capital Adequacy Requirements’ and ‘Training on ‘Practical Aspects of AML/CFT for Finance Companies’.

In addition, the SCC drafted standard KYC forms for LFCs and provided reporting structure on Compliance to the Board of Directors (including reporting in terms of Rule 12 of the Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 01 of 2016. Through these activities, the SCC not only has made a lasting impact on the industry but also sharpened the professionalism of compliance officers.

The symposium

The symposium will focus on areas of particular importance to LFCs in Sri Lanka, such as ‘Role of NBFIs in the context of Financial Stability,’‘Challenges in Implementing AML/CFT Regulations,’ ‘Creating an Effective Compliance Culture for Sustainable Business Growth’ and‘Data Privacy and Emerging Technology’. 

The Compliance Symposium 2018will feature speeches and panel discussions by an eminent panel of speakers comprising the directors of the key departments of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, academics and recognised business personalities. This will be beneficial to all members in LFCs given its universal relevance, but it will hold special relevance for compliance officers in the present challenging regulatory environment. 

The Chief Guest at the event will be H.A. Karunaratne, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and the Guest of Honour will be J.P.R. Karunaratne, Assistant Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, who will present the keynote address. 

There will be four key speakers at the event who will address the participants on matters that are considered top of mind to the compliance professionals of today.The speakers are:

1. W. Ranaweera – Director, Department of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (SNBFI) – who will speak on the‘Role of NBFIs in the context of Financial Stability’

2. D. M.Rupasinghe, Director – Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (FIU) – whowill focus on ‘Challenges in Implementing AML/CFT Regulations’

3. Aravinda Perera – Chairman, Singer Finance (Lanka) PLC – who will speak on ‘Creating an Effective Compliance Culture for Sustainable Business Growth’

4. Sujit Christy – Governance, Risk, Compliance and Cybersecurity Professional, a passionate Cybersecurity adoption evangelist and a Director of Layers-7 Seguro Consultoria Ltd. –who will share his knowledge and experience on ‘Data Privacy and Emerging Technology’

The panels will comprise the following eminent persons in the industry:

W. Ranaweera (Director – SNBFI), A. A. M.  Thassim (Director, Bank Supervision Department of CBSL), U. P. Alawattage (Director, Department of Foreign Exchange of CBSL) and Krishan Thilakaratne (Director/CEO of Commercial Leasing & Finance PLC and immediate past Chairman of the FHA) are the panellists for the first panel discussion on the ‘Role of NBFIs in the context of Financial Stability,’ and Thushan A.Amarasuriya[Director/CEO of Singer Finance (Lanka) PLC] will function as the moderator in the discussion. 

The second panel discussion on ‘Challenges in Implementing AML/CFT Regulations’ includes D.M.Rupasinghe (Director, FIU), Ayesh Ariyasinghe (Senior Assistant Director, FIU), Averil Ludowyke (Partner, Ernst & Young), and Pavithri Vithanage (Head of Banking Services Partner, KPMG) and will be moderated by Premasiri Ratnayake (Retired Senior Banker and Compliance/Risk Management Professional).

The third panel discussion is on ‘Creating an Effective Compliance Culture for Sustainable Business Growth,’ which is moderated by Ashane Jayasekara(Deputy Managing Partner and National Head of Risk, IT and Forensic Services for BDO Partners) and Aravinda Perera [Chairman, Singer Finance (Lanka) PLC], Dr.S. H. A. M. Abeyratne (Rtd. Assistant Governor of the CBSL), K. G. P. Sirikumara (Director, Legal and Compliance Department of the CBSL), and Pavithri Vithanage (Senior Assistant Director, Legal and Compliance Department of the CBSL) will be the panellists. 

The event is sponsored by Infrasoft Technologies (the Platinum Sponsor),Quantum Data Engines, and N*able (Principal Sponsor). Daily FT functions as the official newspaper to the event. Gold FM and Hiru FM are the Electronic Media Partners.