The Board of Directors of the Bank is pleased to present to the shareholders the 53rd Annual Report of the Bank comprising an integrated report, the Audited Financial Statements of the Group and the Bank for the year ended December 31, 2021, and the Independent Auditors’ Report on the Financial Statements conforming to all applicable statutory requirements.
This Integrated Report, where applicable, is presented in accordance with the Guiding Principles and Content Elements as stipulated by the International <IR> Framework issued by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), now known as the Value Reporting Foundation consequent to merger of the former with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board in June 2021.
According to sections 150 (1), 151, 152 and 153 (1) & (2) of the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007 and amendments thereto, the Bank’s Board of Directors is responsible for preparing the Financial Statements of the Group and the Bank, which reflect a true and fair view of the financial position and performance of the Group and the Bank. In this respect, the Board of Directors wishes to confirm that the Financial Statements, namely, Income Statement, Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Changes in Equity, Statement of Cash Flows, and Significant Accounting Policies and Notes thereto appearing in the chapter on Financial Report have been prepared and presented in conformity with the requirements of the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards as mandated by the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Act No. 15 of 1995 and the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007 and amendments thereto.
This Report also provides the information and disclosures as required by the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007 and amendments thereto, Banking Act No. 30 of 1988 and amendments thereto, the Directions issued thereunder including the Banking Act Direction No. 11 of 2007 and subsequent amendments thereto, the Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) including the Rules pertaining to Related Party Transactions as required by Section 9.3.2 (c) and (d) thereof and the recommended best practice.
The Board of Directors has approved and authorised for issue the Financial Statements of the Group and the Bank for the year ended December 31, 2021, including comparatives for 2020, in accordance with the resolution of the Directors on February 25, 2022. Within the statutory time limits, the appropriate number of copies of the Annual Report will be submitted to the CSE and to the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAASMB) and soft copies of same will be hosted on the website of the Bank, www.combank.net.
This Report effectively communicates the Bank’s efforts to create value for all its stakeholders across the short, medium and long term through its business model and identifies the emerging developments and trends that are likely to impact its business model and value creation process.
These trends have been categorised into risks and opportunities based on their importance to the Bank and its stakeholders, together with the stakeholders that are likely to be affected most. Through its annual strategic planning exercise, the Bank identified its strategic imperatives and continued to execute the required strategies to mitigate risks and capitalise on opportunities.
A detailed account of such imperatives and strategies are given in the Management Discussion and Analysis contained in this Report. The underlying governance structure and the risk management framework are detailed in the section on Annual Corporate Governance Report .
The Bank has obtained external assurance on integrated reporting and non-financial information on sustainability reporting from Messrs Ernst & Young and assurance on non-financial reporting from Messrs DNV Business Assurance Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., who represents DNV.
The opinion expressed by the Bank’s External Auditors, Messrs Ernst & Young, who were appointed in accordance with a resolution passed at the 52nd Annual General Meeting held on March 30, 2021 is given in the section on Independent Auditors’ Report of this Annual Report. The details on the remuneration of External Auditors are given in Note 21 to the Financial Statements. As far as the Directors are aware, the Auditors do not have any other relationship with the Bank, or any of its subsidiaries and its associate. The External Auditors do not have any interest in contracts with the Bank, or any of its subsidiaries and its associate.
The Board, to the best of its knowledge and belief, are satisfied with the timely disbursement of all statutory payments to the Government, other regulatory institutions, and to employees.
Having reviewed the business plans of the Bank and its subsidiaries, the Board of Directors is satisfied that the Bank and its subsidiaries have adequate resources to continue their operations in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the Financial Statements of the Group and the Bank are prepared based on a going concern assumption.
Having carefully considered the matters material to the Bank and its stakeholders in preparing this Report, the Board acknowledges that reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation and presentation of this Integrated Report and Financial Statements while preserving its integrity.
The extent of compliance with the requirements of Section 168 of the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 and amendments thereto and other relevant statutes are disclosed in detail in the section on Statement of Compliance .
