COMBank declared Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year’ by The Banker

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year’ by the prestigious UK-based ‘The Banker’ Magazine, in yet another international affirmation of its status as Sri Lanka’s best bank.

This latest accolade caps a remarkable year for the Commercial Bank during which it made a spectacular entry to the world’s top 1,000 banks, received its 13th ‘Best Bank’ award from Global Finance and Best Bank awards from ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines. Thus, the bank swept the board, by winning all major ‘country awards’ given to banks in Sri Lanka in 2011.

This is the eighth ‘Bank of the Year’ award presented to Commercial Bank by ‘The Banker.’ Considered the ‘Oscar’ of the international banking industry, the award is decided on the strength of strong performance in diverse key indicators.

The comprehensive evaluation for the awards covered qualitative achievements, strategic initiatives, financial results, growth rates and performance data as well as other aspects such as technology and key strategic developments.

Also referred to as the ‘Brackens,’ after Brendan Bracken, the Founding Editor of The Banker in 1926 and Chairman of the Financial Times from 1945 to 1958, the ‘Bank of the Year’ award saw competition from banks in 147 countries this year.

The award was received by Commercial Bank Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne recently at an event held in UK amidst a gathering of VIP guests consisting of the top professionals in the international banking industry.“As always, accolades of this nature are a tribute to the entire team of Commercial Bank, and are a re-affirmation of the value of focusing on best practices and banking fundamentals,” Gooneratne said.

Other ‘Bank of the Year’ award winners ranked alongside Commercial Bank included those of the calibre of the Commerzbank (Germany), HSBC (Hong Kong), Westpac (Australia) and Royal Bank of Canada (Canada).Established in 1969, Commercial Bank is the largest private bank in Sri Lanka, and the only Sri Lankan Bank listed in the world’s Top 1,000 Banks. It operates a network of 210 computer-linked service points in Sri Lanka and the country’s single largest ATM network of 475 terminals.