Commercial Bank bags top honours at National Business Excellence Awards

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc forcefully reaffirmed its status as one of Sri Lanka’s leading corporate entities when it won four top accolades including the overall award at the 2010 National Business Excellence Awards presented last week by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s benchmark private sector bank was adjudged overall - Gold winner, and also received the top award in the Banking and Finance category, the Business Excellence Award in the ‘Extra Large’ category and the top award for Excellence in Performance Management Practices.

The four awards were received by Commercial Bank Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya, Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne, Chief Operating Officer Ravi Dias and Chief Financial Officer Nandika Buddhipala respectively on behalf of the Bank.

“These awards are particularly encouraging because they are an acknowledgement that the level of performance excellence achieved by the Bank transcends the banking sector and is a benchmark for the corporate sector as a whole,” Commercial Bank Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne said. “The team effort that goes to achieve and maintain such a status is truly inspiring.”

Performances in key areas including business and financial performance, global reach, knowledge integration, technological investment, capacity building, performance management, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility are considered when selecting winners of the National Business Excellence Awards. These awards honour businesses that contribute significantly towards the development of the country through excellent business practices.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year’ seven times by ‘The Banker,’ ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 12 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and the Best Bank in Sri Lanka twice by FinanceAsia. It has also been rated ‘Best Local Trade Bank’ in Sri Lanka by the UK based ‘Trade Finance’ magazine in 2009.

The Bank’s operations in Sri Lanka consist of 185 branches and supermarket banking counters and a network of 390 ATMs. The Bank also operates seven branches, two booths, two off-shore banking units and six SME Centres in Bangladesh.