The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said an investor will be allowed to hold a maximum of 15 percent equity of any commercial bank and those who own more than that will have five years to reduce their holdings to 15 percent.
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"The maximum percentage of ownership ... in a bank will be 15 percent. This limit will apply to all categories of shareholders, individually or in groups," the bank said in a statement.
The move followed attempts by several businessmen to take over private commercial banks as a cheap source of funding for their commercial activities, a Central Bank official said.
He said the authorities were worried that heavy concentration of ownership could lead to in-house borrowing and affect viability and even lead to the collapse of private banks.
Earlier, any group of investors could hold more than 15 percent of a bank with the approval of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank. The exception will be withdrawn from Friday, the bank said.