Bank of Ceylon

Bank of Ceylon is one of the largest banks in Sri Lanka, fully owned by the Government of Sri Lanka.

The bank was founded in 1939 by Sri Ernest de Silva and started its first operation in Kandy in 1941.

Bank of Ceylon opened its overseas operation in London in 1949, and in 1961 the bank was nationalized by the then Sri Lankan Government.

Since 1981, it slowly expanded its operations in South East Asia by opening offices in Maldives and India. In 2003 the bank acquired 15% stack in Dawood Bank in Pakistan. Today the bank has over 305 branches including overseas branches at London, Male and Chennai.

Bank of Ceylon in India
Bank of Ceylon in India opened its office at Chennai in 1995. This is an important foreign bank in India as there are large numbers of Indian origin Tamil ethnic people living in Sri Lanka. The bank provides easy access to funds and resources to both Sri Lankan and Indian citizens.

It provides complete range of banking and financial services with professional touch. The offerings of this bank ranges from Retail and wholesale banking, investment banking, credit/debit cards, custodial services and an array of value added services.

Financial Services
The NRE Savings Banks Accounts feature foreign currency remittance and balance transfer. NRE Term deposits can be done with the foreign currency and subsequently can be converted to Indian rupees.

This bank in India is specialized in corporate banking in various industries such as tea, manufacturing, healthcare, rubber, construction, shipping, financial services and consumer durable. The bank plays a leading role in foreign exchange market.

Bank of Ceylon clientele includes many large multinational corporations. The bank gets significant business from its migrant employees working aboard through their remittance of foreign currency. The international division of Bank of Ceylon manages the network of Gold and Silver shops in leading international airports.