Bank of Ceylon celebrates 75th anniversary

Tuesday, 26 August 2014 01:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Bank of Ceylon, the bank that played a prominent role in shaping the economic and financial landscapes of the country, celebrated the 75th milestone of its journey on 1 August.

As part of the 75th anniversary celebrations, the bank organised its anniversary walk last Saturday 16 August from Viharamahadevi Park to the BOC Head Office. In line with the main event at the head office, all provinces together with BOC branch network organised a similar walk to mark the 75th anniversary. The walk was organised with the patronage of BOC Chairman Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama and General Manager D.M. Gunasekara. Customers and other stakeholders and well wishers of the bank joined hands with Bank of Ceylon employees in the walk. Family members of the bank’s staff also joined the anniversary walk making the headcount exceed 1,000 and their enthusiastic contribution added more strength demonstrating solidarity and the bond they have with the bank. The walk was made colourful with motor cycle rider group, decorated Colombo City rider double-decor buses, musical bands and traditional dances. When the walk reached the Head Office Chairman and the General Manager along with the staff released gas balloons attached with gift vouchers filling the bright Colombo sky filled with coloured balloons shooting out at different directions with the wind. A live telecast of the event was on Rupavahini ‘Ayubowan’ program from time to time. The bank wishes to remind lucky winners of gift vouchers to produce them to the nearest BOC branch and collect their prizes.

BOC’s 75th anniversary ‘Abhiman Peragaman’ cycle race ends in Kandy Bank of Ceylon Abhiman Peragaman cycle race ended in Kandy on Saturday 23 August 2014. It was also observed that there were a large number of cycling clubs that took part in this event. Cycling is considered a popular sport event in Sri Lanka and there are a large number of cycling enthusiasts in the country.

The race started on 23 August 9:30 a.m. in front of Bank of Ceylon Head Office and reached Kandy via Kiribathgoda, Ambepussa, Alawwa, Kurunegala, Galagedara and Katugastota by 1 p.m. on the same day. BOC Chairman Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama was Chief Guest and he signalled the start of the cycle race by waving BOC flag. Bank of Ceylon General Manager D.M. Gunasekera gave away the prizes to the winners in Kandy. Over 100 licensed cyclists took part in this race that BOC Abhiman Peragaman organised jointly with the Sri Lanka Cycle Federation. The media partnership for the event was provided by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, while Sri Lanka Police also assisted in conducting the cycle race from Colombo to Kandy. Winners were awarded with attractive cash prizes from the bank. The 1st place was awarded with Rs. 200,000, 2nd place with Rs. 150,000 and 3rd place with Rs. 100,000. Also awarded were consolation cash prizes for the 25 winners of the cycle race.

Apart from the walk, Bank of Ceylon organised several other events in line with its anniversary celebrations, such as a bicycle race, art competition for Ran Kekulu account holders and a tree planting campaign. The Bank of Ceylon earned global recognition as one of the top 1000 banks in the world, as listed by The Banker Magazine (UK) respectively in 2012,2013 and 2014. The bank claimed its award as the only Sri Lankan brand recognised as one of Asia’s Best Brands in 2013 by the Chief

Marketing Officer’s Council (CMO Council) based in Mumbai, India. Brand Finance Lanka ranked Bank of Ceylon as the No.1 Brand in Sri Lanka for the last six consecutive years. The Bank of Ceylon recorded yet another hat-trick in 2013 at the National Business Excellence awards ceremony organised by the National Chamber of Commerce. The bank has achieved exceptional milestones in recent years by achieving rapid growth in recent years and currently holds over Rs. 1 trillion assets. Focusing on the bank’s achievement, Fitch Rating Lanka ranked the Bank of Ceylon at AA+ (lka) which is the highest rating awarded to a local commercial bank. Bank of Ceylon is also the only Sri Lankan bank with an international presence, with branches in Chennai, Male, Seychelles and a subsidiary in London