BoC to conduct special audits

The General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon (BoC), D. M. Gunasekara has been sent on leave pending investigations in several functional areas, a media release from the BoC signed by Chairman Ronald C. Perera said.

Excerpts from the release.

"The Bank of Ceylon is a long, established and respected banking institution with a history of more than seven and a half decades. My Board of Directors and I are deeply committed to sustain and enhance this reputation.

This presents us with a challenge, which was greatly heightened due to the adverse publicity and negative sentiments, expressed in the media recently.

This situation does not augur well for the Bank or the financial system considering the systemic importance of Bank of Ceylon to the country.

We believe that it is incumbent upon the Board to address this situation. In furtherance thereof, it has become necessary to determine the exposures to risk of several key functional areas of the Bank and to conduct special purpose audits, via the deployment of internal and external auditors.

As such, we felt it was appropriate to place the General Manager, D. M. Gunasekara, on leave, until investigations are completed such that the conduct of investigations is independent and impartial. We will take all steps to complete these investigations and clear the issues, within a short period of time.

As the Bankers to the nation, we are not only serving our stakeholders to fulfill their financial needs but also committed to maintaining practices of good governance, at the highest levels.

We sincerely hope that our stakeholders will appreciate these measures of good governance."