The Bank of Ceylon bagged the Gold Award at the recently concluded TAGS Awards 2023 by CA Sri Lanka becoming the winner of the State bank category for its 2022 Annual Report ‘Resilient Resolve Revive’. The event took place at Shangri-La with the participation of Mr.Alejandro Alvarez de la Campa, Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives of the International Finance Corporation and Mr.Andrew Traveller, Acting High Commissioner of New Zealand to Sri Lanka and the Maldives among esteemed guests for the evening. The Bank of Ceylon’s Chief Financial Officer Mr Ruwan Kumara and several officials accepted the award on behalf of the bank.

Commitment to transparency, accountability, governance and sustainability are some essential core-values Bank of Ceylon operates by, and the bank belives it is an honour to be recognized for values it upholds and considers this award very encouraging. Therefore, BOC wishes to extend its gratitude and appreciation to all stakeholders for their efforts ensuring that the Bank’s annual report was of the highest calibre which has enabled the Bank to be recognised.

This years’ ceremony was theme as ‘Empowering Sustainable Growth – Harnessing the Power of Corporate Reporting’. As always the purpose was recognizing the excellence in financial and non-financial reporting and promoting fundamental concepts of transparency, accountability, governance, and sustainability. By being a winner at TAGs Award, BOC has fulfilled objectives, of the what TAGS Awards aims to establish among corporate citizens that are to encourage; effective communication to stakeholders through publication of informative annual reports, promote effective presentation of financial and non-financial information, comply with legislative requirements and Sri Lanka Accounting Standards (SLFRS), and adopt the best global reporting practices.

Winners were selected based on their effectiveness in communicating; organisational objectives, performance, personnel and management competency of reaching intended objectives to the intended audience. In addition to the creativity and clarity of presentation, additional information such as the scale of operation, complexity and sophistication of operation were also considered in the evaluating process. The overall winners were chosen purely on merit, irrespective of the industry sector.