01 December 2016

United Arab Emirates – RAKBANK is pleased to announce the arrangement of a five-year US$15 million long term loan facility to Seylan Bank, a financial institution based in Sri Lanka. Seylan Bank has secured the loan for general expansion of its portfolio growth in Foreign Currency Banking Unit (FCBU). The long term funding would also assist in further improving the Asset Liability Management (ALM) gap in Seylan’s FCBU Book. 

This is Seylan’s first long term financial agreement with financial institutions based in the Middle East, which reflects strong investor confidence in the Bank’s operations and future growth potential. The loan facility was recently signed at the Capital Club in Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). Attending the ceremony were Kapila Ariyaratne, Seylan Bank Chief Executive Officer, and Peter England, RAKBANK Chief Executive Officer, along with other senior representatives from RAKBANK and Seylan Bank.

Peter England, RAKBANK CEO, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Seylan Bank to support their general expansion plan of the Foreign Currency Banking Unit. This long term financing allows us to diversify our asset book into various geographies while introducing Seylan Bank to the region.”      

Commenting on the signing, Kapila Ariyaratne, Seylan Bank Chief Executive Officer said: “We are extremely pleased to sign up on this partnership as the Bank’s first long term financial agreement with the Middle East market, which reflects strong investor confidence in Seylan Bank’s operations and future growth potential.”

About Seylan Bank Group

Seylan Bank PLC was established in 1987 and is a public limited liability company incorporated in Sri Lanka. The Bank focuses on conventional commercial banking activities and offers a full spectrum of retail banking, corporate banking, treasury, international & trade banking and foreign currency banking activities. Seylan Bank is one of the systemically important banks in Sri Lanka and boasts of many first in the sphere of innovation in banking services. It is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of approximately USD 106 million as at 27th March 2016. The Bank has been assigned A- (lka) National rating for implied long-term unsecured senior debt, by Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited.The geographic reach of the bank comprises of 166 branches and over 193 ATMs island wide.

About RAKBANK

RAKBANK, also known as the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, is one of the UAE’s oldest and most dynamic financial institutions. Founded in 1976, it underwent a major transformation in 2001 as it rebranded into RAKBANK and shifted its focus from purely corporate to retail and small business banking. In addition to offering a wide range of retail banking services, the Bank increased its lending in the traditional SME, Commercial, and Corporate segment in recent years. The Bank also offers Islamic Banking solutions, via RAKislamic, throughout its 35 branches and its Telephone, Online, and Mobile Banking channels. RAKBANK is a public joint stock company headquartered in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). For more information, please visit www.rakbank.ae or contact the Call Centre on +9714 213 0000. Alternatively, you can connect with RAKBANK via twitter.com/rakbanklive and facebook.com/rakbank.

For media enquiries, please contact:

RAKBANK

Geraldine Dagher

Geraldine@rakbank.ae

© Press Release 2016