International Golds crown Seylan Bank’s ‘The Case Study’ – Annual Report 2009

Seylan Bank’s Annual Report for 2009 – ‘The Case Study’ – won dual Golds at the recent Vision Awards 2009 organised by the League of American Communications Professionals LLC (LACP) Annual Report Competition.

Seylan Bank won a Gold Award for the ‘Best Annual Report’ in the Banking Category as well as the Gold for the ‘Most Improved Annual Report in the Asia Pacific Region’.

Seylan Bank also won a Gold, three Bronzes and an Honours Award at the recent 24th ARC Awards International 2010. It won a Gold Award for the ‘Chairman’s Letter’, three Bronze Awards for ‘Non Traditional Annual Report’, ‘Cover Photo / Design’ and ‘Interior Design’. The Honours Award was for ‘Photography’.

An elated Chairman of Seylan Bank Eastman Narangoda said that these awards were, in a broader sense, an international endorsement of the Bank’s performance and credibility.

“When Seylan Bank went through its darkest period, all the odds were against it. There were many who predicted the imminent collapse of the Bank. However thanks to the far sighted and timely intervention of the Government of Sri Lanka through the Central Bank, Seylan Bank rose again, Phoenix-like.”

“Our intention in ‘The Case Study’ was to tell this story – transparently and candidly, heartened that the worst is behind us and that we can already point to positively measurable signs of progress. Establishing a new benchmark in Sri Lankan financial reporting, we have dedicated this handsome 253 page leather bound volume to our stakeholders. It takes a closer and perceptive look at the extraordinary efforts that restored financial stability to Seylan Bank,” he added.

Narangoda placed on record the Seylan Bank’s gratitude to His Excellency the President, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Bank’s staff and all its stakeholders across Sri Lanka who helped make this dramatic and acclaimed turn-around possible.  Interspersed with catchy illustrations and reproductions of trilingual newspaper articles, ‘The Case Study’ has, since its launch early this year, attracted critical acclaim as a fine documentation of one of the most controversial happenings in Sri Lanka’s contemporary financial history. 

‘The Case Study’ takes the reader through six main chapters which clearly outline the Seylan Bank’s story, from its birth and growth … to its fall and renaissance.

The 24th Annual International ARC Awards - the world’s largest annual report competition organised by MerComm, Inc – were presented at a gala ceremony in the Ritz-Carlton Ballroom of The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park. The winners were deemed the best out of over 1,900 entries from 27 countries.

The International ARC Awards are considered the Oscars of Annual Report Awards and is the largest international competition honoring excellence in annual reports. The competition is open to corporations, small companies, government agencies, non-profit organisations, and associations, as well as agencies and individuals involved in producing annual reports.

“Our purpose here was to share the lessons learnt and solutions applied, as we’ve all worked hard to make the Seylan Bank more responsive and accountable to the needs of all stakeholders. We earnestly hope that both Sri Lankaand the world at large will benefit from seeing what has been achieved in a dramatically short period of time through the collective efforts of many dedicated individuals and institutions.”