DFCC’s Annual Report clinches grand award for ‘Best of Sri Lanka’ at ARC 2013 in New York

Wednesday, 4 September 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

DFCC Bank did Sri Lanka proud at the international ARC Awards 2013 in New York, by sweeping away six awards – a Gold, a Silver, three Bronzes and one Honours, whilst topping it all with the grand award for the Best of Country Report at the world’s largest annual report competition conducted in New York, USA recently.

The 27th ARC Awards this year received a record 2,260 entries from 34 countries whilst Reports from almost all top companies in Sri Lanka had been entered. Popularly dubbed the Academy Awards of the annual report world, the ARCs are appreciated for their independence, integrity and international perspective and is perhaps the most prestigious of annual report competitions the world over. DFCC Bank’s Annual Report, produced by SMART Media and supplemented with photography by Laxshman Nadarajah, at first glance gives the impression of a cover for a cookbook. This unique approach to the theme of ‘Developmental by Design,’ which emphasised DFCC’s development banking role likened to spices that add flavour to a wide menu of universal banking products and services under one roof, won DFCC the Gold award for the cover. The theme was encapsulated in the opening note as, ‘Imagine banking without a developmental flavour… much like food without spice’. The Report was also recognised recently at the Vision Awards organised by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), winning Gold in its respective competition class. DFCC has been constantly pushing the boundaries of reporting. This year’s report has evolved in line with global trends and new financial and sustainability reporting requirements. The 2012/13 report, for the first time adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as an integrated reporting style, which examines the inter-relationship between the bank’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects that lead to the creation of value to all stakeholders – shareholders, customers, business partners, employees community and the Government. This year DFCC has also refined its sustainability reporting by aligning further with the Global Reporting Index (GRI) guidelines and voluntarily publishing the bank’s carbon footprint for the first time.