Seylan Bank
Seylan Bank PLC (Sinhala: සෙලාන් බැංකුව Selan Bænkuwa) is a publicly owned Commercial Bank in Sri Lanka. It has branches both in urban as well as rural areas of Sri Lanka. Seylan bank had 167 banking centres[3] island wide, 3000 staff members, an ATM network of 205 units covering crucial locations, 9 branches providing 365 day banking[4] in 2020. The bank was formed as a licensed commercial bank which was incorporated with a shareholder base.
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| CSE: SEYB.N0000 | |
| Industry | Finance |
| Founded | 1987 [1] |
| Founder | Lalith Kotelawala |
| Headquarters | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
Number of locations |  173 |
Area served | Sri Lanka |
| Products | Banking, financial and related services |
| Revenue | US$ 337.94 million (2019)[2] |
| US$ 28.07 million (2019)[2] | |
 US$ 7.8 million (2019)[2] | |
| Total assets | US$ 2.84 billion (2019)[2] |
| Total equity | US$ 245.74 million (2019)[2] |
Number of employees | 3,360 (2019)[2] |
| Parent | Ceylinco Consolidated (1987-2008)[2] Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (2008- present)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Ceylinco Insurance |
| Website | www |
Seylan Bank was incorporated on 28 August 1987 as a Public Limited Liability Company and founder chairman was Dr. Lalith Kotelawala. It established its first subsidiary, Seylan Merchant Bank Limited, in 1992. A second subsidiary, Ceylinco Seylan Development Limited[5] was also established in 1992, primarily for the purpose of constructing the Bank's head office building, Ceylinco Seylan Towers.
Seylan Bank introduced Sri Lanka's first homegrown credit card and they also had a partnership deal with Western Union which is a global money transfer system.[6]
Crisis
The collapse of the Golden Key Credit Card Company which was a subsidiary of the Ceylinco Consolidated and the mismanagement of funds by the Former Chairman in 2008, resulted in a liquidity crisis in the last weeks of 2008. This prompted the monetary board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to bring Seylan Bank under the control of state owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) on the 28 December 2008. This took place under Section 30(1) of the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949.[7]
Seylan Bank's troubles started when the Golden Key Credit Card Company, an unregulated firm of the Ceylinco group was unable to repay its customers due to financial instability.[7]
Resellience
An 11-member team was appointed by the Bank of Ceylon on the behalf of Central Bank of Sri Lanka's request in 2008 following the downfall of the bank and due to the unethical behaviour and activities of Golden Key Credit Card Company which was affiliated with Seylan Bank.
The team managed to re-establish the financial stability of the bank and introduced effective risk management policies. Recreation of a comprehensive strategic business plan, developing employees, reducing operational expenses were accomplished by the board of directors.
The bank earned a tax profit of Rs.188 million at the end of year 2009. The bank was able to cover 300 million from previous non-performing loans.
Seylan Bank made a reputation once again as one of the leading banks in Sri Lanka after reaching the solution regarding the scam by the Golden Key Company and still continuing their services to people.[8]
2010
In May 2010, the bank's profits were up 32.3% when compared to the previous year.[9]
References
- .. :: Seylan Bank :: ..: Archived 2014-12-22 at Archive.today
- "Seylan Bank Annual Reports 2019" (PDF). Seylan Bank. Seylan Bank. January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- seylan_admin_312 (2016-07-27). "Branches". www.seylan.lk. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- seylan_admin_312 (2016-07-27). "365 Banking". www.seylan.lk. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "Seylan Developments PLC". www.seylandevelopments.com. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- admin (2015-05-25). "Milestones". www.seylan.lk. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
- CB bails out Seylan Archived 2013-02-19 at Archive.today Daily News, 2008-12-30
- Worldfolio, The. "Back from the brink". Theworldfolio. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
- http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=8169