Finance Act to be amended

Cabinet has approved an amendment proposed by the President to the Finance Act so that it will be upgraded to fight fraud and illegal money laundering.   Cabinet had last year decided to bring a new law to amend the Finance Act No. 78 of 1988 with a view to providing for a strong governance framework to regulate finance business, Media Minister told the Cabinet press briefing yesterday.

“The main purpose of this new Bill is to update the law on par with advancement of new technology and to combat unauthorised deposits and to ensure the stability in the financial sector in the country,” he said.

Accordingly, acceptance of deposits without the approval of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is made an offence and a definition of “deposit’ has been introduced with enhanced examination and investigative powers of the accounts and of financial institutions. On a proposal made by President as Minister of Finance, Cabinet approval was granted for the new Bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman to be presented in Parliament.