1920

The Eastern Bank Ltd. (EBL) opened a branch in Chatham Street.

1957

The share capital of EBL was acquired by the Chartered Bank.

1969

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd. was incorporated with EBL holding 40% of its equity.

1971

The business of the EBL was taken over by the Chartered Bank.

1973

The Galle, Jaffna and Kandy branches of the Mercantile Bank Ltd. were acquired by the Bank.

1979

The Offshore Banking Unit (OBC) [formally Foreign Currency Banking Unit (FCBU)] was formed.

1980

Commercial Development Company Ltd. (CDC) was incorporated to construct a Headquarters for the Bank with a 40% equity participation.

1984

The Headquarters of the Bank was shifted to ‘Commercial House’, No. 21, Sir Razik Fareed Mawatha (Formally known as Bristol Street), Colombo 01.

1987

EBL changed its name to Standard Chartered (UK) Holdings Ltd.

1990

Introduced ATM facilities to its customers.

1993

Introduced the Core Banking Software – International Comprehensive Banking System (ICBS).

1994

Bank celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

1996

Shareholdings in CDC was increased to 94.55% through a share Swap.

1997

Standard Chartered Bank sold its 40% stake in the Bank.

1998

First 365-day branch at Colombo 7 was opened. All branches except Jaffna were linked to the ICBS.

1999

Banking and supermarketing were combined by opening the first ‘MiniCom’.

2000

Internet Banking was launched.

2001

Opened the 100th branch at Kaduruwela and the Gold Trading Unit at the Foreign branch.

2003

The operations of Credit Agricole Indosuez in Bangladesh was taken over.

2005

Raised US $ 65 Mn. two-year syndicated loan with an option to extend it for a further year at the option of the lender, the first such loan by a non-sovereign corporate in the country.

Introduced the first mobile ATM in the country.

2006

Raised US $ 10 Mn. by issuing a five-year bond, the first of its kind by an indigenous bank in Sri Lanka.

Opened 150th branch at Mahiyanganaya.

2008

Became the first Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’.

2009

Became the First and only Bank in Sri Lanka to be CMMi certified.

2010

Installed its 400th ATM at the Ruwanwella branch adding 50 ATMs during the year.

2011

Became the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 2nd time.

Opened the 200th delivery point at Kataragama and installed the 500th ATM.

Set up Elite Branch for high networth customers.

2012

Became the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 3rd time and for the second consecutive year.

Raised US $ 65 Mn. from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

2013

Became the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 4th time and for the third consecutive year.

Adjudged as the ‘Best Local Trade Bank in Sri Lanka’ by ‘Trade Finance (UK)’ for 4th time since Trade Finance began presenting this award since 2009.

Raised US $ 75 Mn. from the IFC as a ten year Subordinated Term Debt that qualifies for Tier II Capital.

2014

Became the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 5th time and for the fourth consecutive year.

Adjudged as Sri Lanka’s ‘Best Bank’ for the 16th consecutive year by one of the world’s most respected financial publications, ‘Global Finance (USA)’.

Adjudged ‘The Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2014’ by The Asian Banker, a leading provider of strategic intelligence on the financial services industry.

The Bank received a license to established a Representative Office in Myanmar.

Bank acquired the 100% ownership of Indra Finance Ltd.

Bank installed its 600th ATM at the Gold Centre branch.

2015

Became the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World’ for the 6th time and for the fifth consecutive year.

Euromoney, widely considered as one of the world’s leading financial magazines, adjudged the Bank as the ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka in 2015’ at the Asia Awards for Excellence presented in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong based ‘FinanceAsia,’ one of the most eminent financial publications in the region adjudged the Bank as the ‘Best Bank’ in Sri Lanka in 2015. This was the fifth ‘FinanceAsia Country Award for Achievement’ presented to the Bank in the seven years since 2009.

The Bank was adjudged ‘Sri Lanka’s ‘Commercial Bank of the Year 2015’ by the UK-based International Banker and the Bank became the first Sri Lankan Bank to receive an award from this prestigious UK-based publication.

The Bank obtained license to establish subsidiaries in Italy and Maldives.

Acknowledged internationally with the award for ‘Best Sustainability – Green Initiative’ at the 2015 Asian Customer Engagement Forum (ACEF) Awards in Mumbai.

Bank Annual Report 2015 made history by winning coveted ‘Asia’s Best Integrated Report’ Award at the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards in Singapore. The Annual Report 2015 was also won the Award for the Best Annual Report in the Banking Sector - Edward J. Cooray Memorial Trophy and four other awards at the Annual Report Awards, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

The name of Indra Finance Ltd. was changed to Serandib Finance Ltd.