Supplementary Information

Historical Landmarks

  1. 1920
    The Eastern Bank Ltd. (EBL) opened a branch in Chatham Street.

  2. 1957
    The share capital of EBL was acquired by the Chartered Bank.

  3. 1969
    The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd. was incorporated with EBL holding 40% of its equity.

  4. 1971
    The business of the EBL was taken over by the Chartered Bank.

  5. 1973
    The Galle, Jaffna and Kandy branches of the Mercantile Bank Ltd. were acquired by the Bank.

  6. 1973
    The Galle, Jaffna and Kandy branches of the Mercantile Bank Ltd. were acquired by the Bank.

  7. 1979
    The Foreign Currency Banking Unit (FCBU) was formed.

  8. 1980
    Commercial Development Company Ltd. was incorporated to construct a Headquarters for the Bank with a 40% equity participation.

  9. 1984
    The Headquarters of the Bank was shifted to ‘Commercial House’, No. 21, Bristol Street (now known as Sir Razik Fareed Mawatha), Colombo 01.

  10. 1987
    EBL changed its name to Standard Chartered (UK) Holdings Ltd.

  11. 1990
    Introduced ATM facilities to its customers.

  12. 1993
    Introduced the Core Banking Software - International Comprehensive Banking System (ICBS).

  13. 1994
    Bank celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

  14. 1996
    Shareholdings in Commercial Development Company Ltd. increased to 94.55% through a share swap.

  15. 1997
    Standard Chartered Bank sold its 40% stake in the Bank.

  16. 1998
    365-day branch at Colombo 07 was opened. All branches except Jaffna were linked to the ICBS.

  17. 1999
    Banking and supermarketing were combined by opening the first 'MiniCom'.

  18. 2000
    Internet Banking was launched.

  19. 2001
    Opened the 100th branch at Kaduruwela and the Gold Trading Unit at the Foreign Branch.

  20. 2003
    The operations of Credit Agricole Indosuez in Bangladesh was taken over.

  21. 2004
    Commercial Bank Social Responsibility Trust was set up.

  22. 2005
    Raised US $ 65 Mn. two-year syndicated loan with an option to extend it for a further year at the option of the lender, the first such loan by a non-sovereign corporate in the country.
    Introduced the first mobile ATM in the country.

  23. 2006
    Raised US $ 10 Mn. by issuing a five-year bond, the first of its kind by an indigenous bank in Sri Lanka.
    Opened 150th branch at Mahiyanganaya.

  24. 2008
    Sold of its 30% stake in the equity of Commercial Leasing Company PLC.
    Became the first Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’.

  25. 2009
    Became the first and only Bank in Sri Lanka to be CMMi certified.

  26. 2010
    Installed its 400th ATM at the Ruwanwella branch adding 50 ATMs during the year.

  27. 2011
    Became the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 2nd time.

    Opened the 200th delivery point at Kataragama and installed the 500th ATM.
    Set up Islamic Banking Unit and Elite Branch for high networth customers.

  28. 2012
    Became the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 3rd time and for the 2nd consecutive year.

    Raised as US $ 65 Mn., from the International Financial Corporation (IFC).

  29. 2013
    Became the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 4th time and for the third consecutive year.

    Adjudged as the ‘Best Local Trade Bank in Sri Lanka’ by ‘Trade Finance (UK)’ for 4th time since Trade Finance began presenting this award since 2009.

    Raised US$ 75 million from the IFC as a ten year Subordinated Term Debt that qualifies for Tier II Capital.

  30. 2014
    Became the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 5th time and for the fourth consecutive year

    Adjudged as Sri Lanka’s ‘Best Bank’ for the 16th consecutive year by one of the world’s most respected financial publications, ‘Global Finance (USA)’.

    Adjudged ‘The Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2014’ by The Asian Banker, a leading provider of strategic intelligence on the financial services industry.

    The 2013 Annual Report of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC won two key awards at the Best Presented Annual Report Awards presented by the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) including the Gold award for the Winner in the Private Sector category.
    Bank acquired the ownership of Indra Finance Ltd.

    Bank installed its 600th ATM at the Gold Centre branch.