Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank Syndicated Loan of $ 62.5mn Raised from Middle Eastern Investors

01st March 2012, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank has raised 62.5 million US dollars from a syndicated loan among Middle Eastern investors which will help the bank grow its assets 23 percent in 2012, officials said.

Managing director Aravinda Perera said the bank was seeking 30 million dollars but the loan was oversubscribed to close at 62.5 million US dollars.

Ravin Basnayake, country head Citibank Colombo, a lead arranger of the deal, said the oversubscription indicates the confidence of investors in the bank.

Bank Muscat S.A.O.G, Citigroup Global Markets Asia Ltd, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, Bank Sohar S.A.O.G had loaned 10 million dollars each and United Bank Limited 7.5 million US dollars.

Union National Bank PJSC, BMI Bank B.S.C (C.) and Bank Alfalah Ltd had contributed 5 million dollars each.

The bank said its advances grew 35 percent or 43.5 billion rupees in 2011. In 2012 the bank is targeting loan growth of 23 percent.

Sri Lanka's central bank has set a limit of 18 percent for loan growth in 2011 from domestic resources, and 23 percent with additional funding from abroad.

The floating rate one-year loan priced at an undisclosed premium over the six month London Inernbank offered rate an official said.

The proceeds would be loaned in rupees, with the foreign exchange cover provided by the Central Bank.

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Sampath Bank Launches M2SL Money2SriLanka Online Money Transfer Facility with ICICI Bank of India

11th May 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com

ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, has tied up with Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank to launch an online cross-border money transfer facility.

The 'Money2SriLanka' facility ('M2SL') is a web-based online remittance platform which facilitates the sending of remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in Sri Lanka, a statement said.

This service will be piloted in Canada and the United Kingdom and will shortly be rolled out in Australia, USA, South East Asia and the Euro zone in the second phase.

The remittance received through M2SL is available for account holders of ICICI Bank Sri Lanka and Sampath Bank instantly on the day of receipt of funds in Sri Lanka.

Remittances received on behalf of account holders of other banks in Sri Lanka will be disbursed via Sri Lanka Interbank Payment system with the same day value, subject to cut off timings for processing of the payments.

"One of the important features of this facility is the availability of an online tracking system to trace the status of a transaction from the point of initiation up to the point of payment to the beneficiary," the statement said.

ICICI Bank has been one of the leading players in the Indian remittance market and its proprietary online portal, Money2India.com has proven to be a breakthrough in mobilizing remittances into the Indian market, it said.

"The Money2India.com product goes beyond the traditional offerings in the banking sector by saving significant costs associated with traditional money transfer methods."

Image: Sampath Bank ties up with ICICI Bank oo an online cross-border money transfer facility to Sri Lanka (Image Courtesy: www.news360.lk)

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