SAMPATH BANK NAMED SRI LANKA’S BEST BANK FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY ATEUROMONEY AWARDS 2026
Sampath Bank PLC has been recognised as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, reaffirming its position as the leader in responsible banking and creating a sustainable impact on the community and environment.
The prestigious award was presented at the Asia-Pacific regional awards ceremony held in Singapore recently. Euromoney is a leading international financial publication whose Awards for Excellence recognise outstanding performance, leadership and innovation across the global banking and financial services sector. Sampath Bank’s latest regional recognition reflects the depth and scale of its corporate responsibility agenda, with its flagship ‘Wewata Jeewayak’ programme at the heart of its approach.
Sanjaya Gunawardana, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sampath Bank, said, “This recognition is a tremendous source of pride for Sampath Bank and for Team Sampath. It reflects our belief that corporate responsibility must create meaningful, measurable and lasting value for communities, while strengthening the resilience of the country we serve. ‘Wewata Jeewayak’ demonstrates how environmental restoration can be connected to community resilience, food security, economic opportunity as well as climate adaptation. The recognition from Euromoney reinforces our commitment to advancing this integrated approach and creating measurable impact that extends well beyond the projects themselves.”
The ‘Wewata Jeewayak’ programme reached a new scale in 2025, with LKR 63.7 million (approximately USD 190,000) invested in 11 new tank restoration projects, benefiting 14,780 people and rejuvenating 3,370 acres of paddy land. The initiative forms part of Sampath Bank’s broader efforts to strengthen climate resilience and rural development by restoring neglected irrigation tanks that serve as critical water infrastructure for Sri Lanka’s agricultural communities. Restoration is complemented by technical collaboration and engagement with farmers, government authorities and farmers’ associations, helping improve water management, agricultural practices and the long-term stewardship of restored assets. Water-efficiency measures introduced through the programme can reduce water wastage by 20% to 30%, further supporting agricultural productivity and food security and it saves water for another cultivation season.
What began as an environmental restoration initiative has evolved into a broader rural development platform, incorporating agricultural training, agri-entrepreneurship, financial literacy and capacity building to help communities strengthen productivity, incomes and long-term economic resilience. This integrated approach extends across Sampath Bank’s wider corporate responsibility strategy, which in 2025 included coral reef restoration, turtle conservation, mangrove restoration and ocean plastic reduction under its ‘A Breath to the Ocean’ programme. Entrepreneurship initiatives supported women-led businesses and rural enterprises, while community programmes focused on education, healthcare and financial inclusion.
The latest honour marks the third time Sampath Bank has been named Sri Lanka’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility, having previously won the award in 2022 and 2024, and retained the country-level title in the 2026 awards cycle. The Bank also secured Euromoney’s prestigious Asia’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility title in 2024, reaffirming its sustained leadership in corporate responsibility at both national and regional levels.
