MBSL holds knowledge-based seminar

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC (MBSL) organised a seminar on ‘Implications of the New Finance Business Act’ at Earls Court, Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo in September. The guest speaker at the event was President’s Counsel Dr. Dayanath Jayasuriya. More than 200 participants from the corporate sector, individuals and professionals in various disciplines attended the programme.

The areas  covered by the speaker  included the concepts of finance business and deposits, powers of the regulator, duties of directors, auditors and the senior management, impact on related entities, need for more effective corporate governance and the way forward in addressing conceptual and operational issues and problems.

Since the risk of a collapse of financial institutions cannot be totally eliminated from the current environment, implementing proper processes and procedures to prevent deviation and a ‘zero tolerance policy’ in respect of illegal operations and mismanagement will make the business environment less vulnerable to risks.

The need to amend the Finance Companies Act, which was enacted 20 years ago, has been felt by the financial sector as well as the general public to suit the current context. It has been necessary to augment the supervisory powers in respect of licensed finance companies to effectively curb unauthorised deposit taking individuals and institutions.

The new Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011 has strengthened the powers of Sri Lanka’s banking regulatory body – the Central Bank of Sri Lanka with a view to protect depositors and institutions. This Act provides the Central Bank of Sri Lanka with more authority to regulate the banking and finance industry through a variety of measures.  

It is important for the business community and the public to have a broad understanding of the nature and scope of the provisions in the new Act.  

The participants included key strategic personnel of banks, insurance companies, finance companies, licensed specialised banks, regulators of such institutions and sales and marketing staff of such institutions, managing directors, directors of companies, chief executive officers, general managers, chief financial officers, finance managers, lawyers, company secretaries, analysts and people with special interest in the program.