CBSL appoints Advisory Committee to revive five failed finance companies

Dharma Dheerasinghe

Sujeewa Mudalige

Tishan Subasinghe

Thiyagarajah Dharmarajah

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has established an Advisory Committee to examine possible revival options for failed finance companies. 

It comprises four eminent experts from the business sector and is chaired by CBSL former Deputy Governor and Commercial Bank Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe. The other members are PricewaterhouseCoopers Managing Partner Sujeewa Mudalige, Moore Stephens Consulting Ltd. Managing Director Tishan Subasinghe and Chartered Accountants Amerasekera and Company Senior Partner (Audit and Assurance) Thiyagarajah Dharmarajah. 

Monetary Board appointed member Dr. Ranee Jayamaha will serve as the Advisor to the Committee while CBSL Assistant Governor J.P.R. Karunaratne would serve as the Secretary.

The Monetary Board has vested the Committee with the responsibility of recommending possible revival options for the following five failed finance companies, of which the licenses have been either suspended or cancelled as at date. i. Central Investment & Finance Ltd. ii. ETI Finance Ltd. iii. TKS Finance Ltd. iv. The Finance Company PLC v. The Standard Credit Finance Ltd. 

The committee will be expected to conduct an independent assessment of the present financial condition of the five distressed companies; conduct due diligence covering financial, legal, tax and other important areas of operations; assess the financial conditions of the entities after incorporating necessary adjustments as per the findings of due diligence; and also examine possible revival options for each entity indicating advantages and disadvantages. If, however reviving a particular entity does not seem feasible, the committee may recommend liquidation of the said entity as well.