- Awarded Golds for ‘Corporate Governance Disclosure’ and ‘Digitally Transformative Reporting’ across sectors and receives Gold as best in Banking sector
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon won three Golds and a Bronze at CA Sri Lanka’s ‘TAGS’ Awards 2023 for the Bank’s 2022 Annual Report, excelling in key aspects recognised by the awards programme which is dedicated to Transparency, Accountability, Governance, and Sustainability – TAGS.
The Bank was adjudged the best across all sectors for ‘Corporate Governance Disclosure’ and for Digitally Transformative Reporting’ taking two Golds in the main category awards, and won the Gold for the best annual report in the Banking sector, in addition to taking the Bronze for ‘Overall Excellence in Corporate Reporting.”
“We are absolutely delighted to win these prestigious awards, which are a fitting reward for the tremendous effort made by our Annual Report team to meet the highest local and global standards in financial reporting,” Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge commented. “The TAGS awards are particularly important because of their focus on four of the most important pillars of disclosure. Transparency, Accountability, Governance, and Sustainability are embedded in the core values of the Bank and Commercial Bank places extra emphasis on these areas when producing its Annual Report.”
CA Sri Lanka’s Annual Report Awards Competition, which commands a prestigious legacy of more than 57 years, was reconceptualised and rebranded as TAGS Awards in 2022. The 2023 edition saw leading diversified conglomerates, sector-leading corporates, multinationals, SMEs and non-profit organisations being recognised for their commitment to producing outstanding annual corporate reports that go beyond meeting regulatory requirements and also contribute to the broader goals of fostering trust, ethical conduct and environmental stewardship at the 2023 TAGS awards.
Titled ‘In Context, Weathering a perfect storm’ the Commercial Bank’s 2022 annual report is the Bank’s 54th annual report and presents comprehensive information on all aspects of performance and governance in the backdrop of a series of events of great adversity, which the Bank said had combined to unleash a perfect storm in Sri Lanka. The report elaborates on how the Bank had kept faith in its proven prudence of strategy and adherence to a progressive drive towards enhancements in technology, customer-centric decision making and operational efficiencies to take the Bank forward during a challenging year.
Commercial Bank’s annual reports have consistently been recognised with local and regional awards for many years. The Bank has been awarded the Cyril Gardiner Memorial Trophy presented by CA Sri Lanka for Overall Excellence in Financial Reporting 10 times and has also won the Edmund J. Cooray Memorial Trophy for the Best Annual Report among Banking Institutions presented by CA Sri Lanka on 17 occasions. Commercial Bank’s Annual Report for 2022 also won five awards at the 2023 MerComm ARC Awards, the world’s largest annual report competition.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World, Commercial Bank operates a network of 271 branches and 964 automated machines in Sri Lanka, is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector and a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. Commercial Bank has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.