Bank of Ceylon - Wikipedia 5/28/18, 6)49 AM

Bank of Ceylon
Not to be confused with Commercial Bank of
Ceylon. Bank of Ceylon

Bank of Ceylon (Sinhala: ලංකා බැං'ව Lanka Bænkuwa) (also

popularly abbreviated as: BOC) is a government-owned, major
commercial bank in Sri Lanka. Its head office is located in an
iconic cylindrical building in Colombo, the political and
commercial capital of the island.

The bank has a network of 628 branches,689 automated teller

machines (ATMs), 123 CDM network and 15 Regional loan
centres within the country. It also has an around-the-clock call
centre at 0094 11 2204444 and an around the clock branch at its
Colombo office.

In addition to the local presence, the bank maintains an off-

shore banking unit in the head office in Colombo, and three
branches in Malé, Chennai, and Seychelles and a subsidiary in
London.

BOC tower (left) with the WTC twin towers

Contents (right)
Type Government-owned
History
corporation
See also
Industry Banking, Financial services
References
Founded 1939[1]
External links
Founder Sir Ernest de Silva
(Founder-Chairman)
History Headquarters BOC Square, Bank of
Ceylon Mawatha, Colombo,
Bank of Ceylon (BoC) was founded in 1939, with Sir Ernest de Sri Lanka
Silva as its first chairman. At the time, Ceylon was a British
Area served Sri Lanka
colony and the then governor Sir Andrew Caldecott Maldives
ceremoniously opened the bank on 1 August. The English India
government introduced the banking arm for its government- United Kingdom
oriented businesses. Two years later, in 1941, BoC started to Seychelles
expand beyond the city of Colombo. It opened its first branch in Key people Ronald C Perera,
President's Counsel
(Chairman)[1]

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Kandy. Subsequently, BoC added branches in major cities such Senarath Bandara (general
as Galle, Jaffna, Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Badulla, manager)[1]
and Panadura. Services Retail banking, Corporate
banking, Investment
1948: Ceylon obtained her independence from the British banking
and then the monetary authorities were transferred to Sri
Lanka. Thereby in 1949 The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has Revenue LKR 132.91 billion
been founded and regulation of all banks are assigned to (2015)[2]
them, Which they carrying out to-date.
1949: BoC opened its first overseas branch in London,
Operating LKR 65.42 billion (2015)[2]
United Kingdom. This helps the bank and the government to income
handle the business between two countries easily. Net income LKR 25.27 billion (2015)[2]
1961: Up until this year, the bank was operated as an
individual organisation and the government of Sri Lanka Total assets LKR 1.568 trillion
stepped forward and declared the bank as a public (2015)[2]
organisation. By then the government has nationalised BoC LKR 81.48 billion (2015)[2]
Total equity
and became a semi government institute.
1972: The then government declared the name of the Number of 7,980 (2015)[2]
country as Sri Lanka. However the bank did not rename employees
itself accordingly. The government also passed the
Agricultural Productivity Law, which forced the bank to open Website boc.lk (http://boc.lk/)
Agrarian Service Centre branches in almost all villages in
the country. As a result of that, the branch network of the bank
expanded tremendously to majority of Sri Lanka's rural areas by the
end of this period.
1979: As opposed to the controlled economy by the government, the
then government relaxed the exchange control regulations by
making it regulate by central bank up to some period and then by the
market demand itself. This Liberalization of exchange control
regulations led the bank to open its first Foreign Currency Unit for
handle the boom of request for non-local currency requirements.
1981: BoC passed another big milestone by opening the second
overseas branch, this one in Malé, Maldives.
1982: BoC founded the first merchant bank in Sri Lanka, which it
named the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka.
1987: The bank moved into its 32-storey headquarters. Sri Lankans
have nicknamed the building (Pittu bambuwa"[!"ටු බ&බුව]") a
Sinhalese term used for a cylindrical cooking implement. The new
building enabled the bank to house all its administrative offices and
central operations in one location.
1989: The bank joined with the Visa International to introduce first
credit cards business to Sri Lanka.
1994: BOC Joined SWIFT at the SWIFT BIC BCEYLKLX along with The Cylindrical BOC tower.
15 other financial institutions in Sri Lanka.
1995: BoC expanded its foreign operations by opening its third
foreign branch in Karachi, Pakistan and fourth in Chennai, India. This facilitated the bank's operations in the
Asian Clearing Union.
2003: BoC took a 15% stake in newly formed Dawood Bank in Pakistan, which was later renamed as Burj Bank.
BoC then transferred all its operations in Pakistan to the new bank.
2006: BOC finally was able to connect all its branches in the inland to one network.
2008: Trade services (import and export services) reached the ISO9001-2008 the best and first ever Sri Lankan
bank could reach.
2010: BoC converted its branch in London to a subsidiary.
2010: BOC achieves its highest ever profit before tax at LKR 10.1Bln (~0.8 BN USD).
2011: As a result of expanding their services around the world that BOC reported the highest profit in Sri Lankan

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Commercial Banks as it Sri Lanka Rupees 15.5 Billion (~1.2 Bln USD).
2012: BOC reaches one Trillion asset base showing its strength and stability becoming the first ever financial
institute in Sri Lanka reached such position.
2012: BOC reached its record profit of 19.7 billion LKR (~0.16 billion USD) and classified for AA+ (LKA) Fitch
rating with over subscribing of its 500 million USD debenture issue.
2014: BOC started its commercial operations in Seychelles.
2014: BOC celebrated its 75th Anniversary in grand scale 1 August 2014.
2015: BOC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.[3]

See also
List of banks in the world

References
1. Bank of Ceylon Website About us (http://web.boc.lk/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=4),
Bank of Ceylon, retrieved 23 February 2015
2. Bank of Ceylon Annual Report 2015 (http://cse.lk/cmt/upload_report_file/861_1463132531514.pdf), Colombo
Stock Exchange, 1 June 2016
3. "BTMU signs a MoU with Bank of Ceylon" (http://www.news.lk/news/business/item/6112-btmu-signs-a-mou-with-b
ank-of-ceylon).

External links
Bank of Ceylon (http://www.boc.lk/)
Central Bank of Sri Lanka (http://www.CBSL.gov.lk)
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka – Official Portal (http://www.gov.lk)
Our History (http://www.boc.lk/bochome/aboutus/aindex.jsp)

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