Bank of Ceylon
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939 [1] |
| Headquarters | Colombo, Sri Lanka  |
| Area served | Sri Lanka Maldives India United Kingdom |
| Industry | Finance |
| Products | Banking, financial and related services |
| Website | Official Website |
Bank of Ceylon (also abbreviated as: BoC) is a major government-owned commercial bank in Sri Lanka. The BoC headquarters are located in Colombo, the country's political and commercial capital. The bank has a network of 303 local and 3 overseas branches (London, Malé & Chennai) and an Off-shore Banking Unit.
[edit] History
- 1939: Sir Ernest de Silva founded the Bank of Ceylon, and became its first Chairman. The British Governor at the time, Sir Andrew Caldecott, ceremoniously opened the bank on August 1st, 1939 at the City office premises.
- 1941: BoC opened its first inland branch, in Kandy. It proceeded to open branches Galle, Jaffna, Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Badulla, and Panadura.
- 1949: BoC opened its first overseas branch in London, United Kingdom.
- 1961: The Government of Sri Lanka nationalized BoC.
- 1972: The Agricultural Productivity Law forced the bank to establish Agrarian Service Centre branches islandwide. As a result, the branch network expanded tremendously to most of Sri Lanka's rural areas.
- 1979: Liberalization of exchange control regulations led the bank to open its first Foreign Currency Unit.
- 1981: BoC opened a branch in Malé, Maldives.
- 1982: The bank set up Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka Limited, the first Merchant Bank in the country.
- 1987: The bank constructed a 32-storey headoffice building to house all administrative offices, the International Division, and a corporate Branch as well as a personal branch.
- 1989: The bank collaborated with Visa International to introduce the first Visa credit cards in Sri Lanka.
- 1995: BoC opened a branch in Karachi, Pakistan
- 1995: BoC opened a branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
- 2003: BoC took a 15% stake in newly formed Dawood Bank in Pakistan, which then acquired BoC's operations in Pakistan.
[edit] See also
- Commercial Bank of Ceylon
- List of banks in the world
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Sri Lanka
- WTC Colombo
