Sri Lanka’s BOC GM on leave, not suspended: Chairman

Apr 09, 2015 (LBO) - Sri Lanka’s state owned Bank of Ceylon says that its General Manager, D M Gunasekara is on leave pending a special audit by internal and external auditors.





“We felt it was appropriate to place the General Manager, Mr. D M Gunasekara, on leave, until investigations are completed such that the conduct of investigations is independent and impartial,” Ronald C.







Perera, Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon said in a statement.

“We will take all steps to complete these investigations and clear the issues, within a short period of time.” Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry made a decision to suspend the BOC’s GM D.M.Gunasekera on the charge of misuse of power and corruption.







However, the chairman’s statement does not mention an inquiry or about the charge.



But the Chairman had said, due to the adverse publicity of media, the bank is negatively affected.

“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 as a whole 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 as well as to conduct special purpose audits, via the deployment of internal and external auditors.” Sri Lanka’s new regime questioned last week about the opening of a BoC branch in Seychelles, where the Sri Lankan community amount to only 46.