Stewardship

Managing Director's and Chief Financial Officer's Statement of Responsibility

The Financial Statements of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (Bank) and the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Bank and its Subsidiaries (Group) as at December 31, 2015 are prepared and presented in conformity with the requirements of the following:

  • Sri Lanka Accounting Standards issued by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka);
  • Companies Act No. 07 of 2007;
  • Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Act No. 15 of 1995;
  • Banking Act No. 30 of 1988 and amendments thereto and the Directions, Determinations and Guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL);
  • Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE); and
  • Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance issued jointly by CA Sri Lanka and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC).

The formats used in the preparation of the Financial Statements and disclosures made comply with the specified formats prescribed by the CBSL. The Group presents the financial results to its shareholders on a quarterly basis.

The significant accounting policies have been consistently applied by the Group. Application of Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates that involve a high degree of judgment and complexity were discussed with the Board Audit Committee (BAC) and Bank's External Auditors. Comparative information has been restated to comply with the current presentation, where applicable. We confirm that to the best of our knowledge, the Financial Statements, Significant Accounting Policies and other financial information included in this Annual Report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of the operations and the Cash Flows of the Group during the year under review. We also confirm that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation and have applied the Going Concern basis in preparing these Financial Statements.

We are responsible for establishing, implementing and maintaining Internal Controls and Procedures within the Bank and all of its Subsidiaries. We ensure that effective Internal Controls and Procedures are in place, ensuring material information relating to the Group is made known to us for safeguarding assets, preventing and detecting fraud and/or error as well as other irregularities, which is reviewed, evaluated and updated on an ongoing basis. We have evaluated the Internal Controls and Procedures of the Group for the financial period under review and are satisfied that there were no significant deficiencies and weaknesses in the design or operation of the Internal Controls and Procedures, to the best of our knowledge. We confirm, based on our evaluations that there were no significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls and fraud that involves management or other employees. The Bank's Internal Audit Department also conducts periodic reviews to ensure that the Internal Controls and Procedures are consistently followed.

The Financial Statements of the Group were audited by Messrs KPMG, Chartered Accountants and their Report. The BAC pre-approves the audit and non-audit services provided by Messrs KPMG, in order to ensure that the provision of such services does not contravene with the guidelines issued by the CBSL on permitted non-audit services or impair KPMG's independence and objectivity.

The BAC, inter alia, reviewed all the Internal and External Audit and Inspection Programmes, the efficiency of Internal Control Systems and procedures and also reviewed the quality of Significant Accounting Policies and their adherence to Statutory and Regulatory Requirements, the details of which are given in the 'Board Audit Committee Report'. The Bank engaged the services of five firms of Chartered Accountants approved by the CBSL to strengthen the audit and inspection functions. The continuous inspection and audit functions, engagement of firms of Chartered Accountants and effective functioning of BAC, ensure that the Internal Controls and Procedures are followed consistently. To ensure complete independence, the External Auditors and the Internal Auditors have full and free access to the members of the BAC to discuss any matter of substance. However, there are inherent limitations that should be recognised in weighing the assurances provided by any system of internal control and accounting.

It is also declared and confirmed that the Bank and the Group have complied with and ensured compliance with the guidelines for the audit of listed companies where mandatory compliance is required.

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

  • The Group has complied with all applicable laws and regulations and guidelines and there is no material litigation against the Group other than those disclosed in Note 59 on of the Financial Statements.
  • All taxes, duties, levies and all statutory payments by the Group and all contributions, levies and taxes payable on behalf of and in respect of the employees of the Group as at December 31, 2015 have been paid, or where relevant provided for.


J. Durairatnam
Managing Director/CEO


L. U. P. Indrajith
Assistant General Manager Finance

Colombo
February 24, 2016