Lanka ORIX Finance Company Limited, a member of the LOLC Group received approval from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to mobilize foreign currency deposits, thereby becoming the first Finance Company in the history of financial services in Sri Lanka to be granted such an approval.

The LOLC group recorded an unprecedented growth in its performance during the immediately past financial year with a top-line growth of 50% and a bottom line growth of 21%, which is noteworthy, given the negative environmental pressures that prevailed during the financial year with high interest rates and inflation causing an increase in borrowing costs. The company also made a strategic investment in Commercial Leasing Company Limited with a view to increasing its scale of operations. Furthermore, the group is continuously increasing its reach to remote areas around the country through the Service Centers, which are being opened at the Lanka IOC Filling stations, consequent to the agreement signed with Lanka IOC.

The Group Managing Director/CEO of LOLC Mr. Kapila Jayawardena mentioned that LOLC is well placed to enter the foreign currency deposit mobilization market in terms of the strategically located global ORIX network, the widespread local branch network, and a significant percentage of ex-banking professionals, in employment at various senior and middle levels within the LOLC group. Furthermore, LOLC has a very advanced IT system which links all branches on-line real-time and a treasury management system which provides superior management information. Mr. Jayawardena further stated that they entered into an agreement with Western Union Money Transfer earlier on this year becoming an authorized agent, in order to be able to use this as a channel to remit foreign currency from the various overseas locations to savings accounts, which will be maintained with Lanka ORIX Finance Company Limited. The stability of the LOLC Group, the high standard of corporate governance and sophisticated risk management techniques adhered to by the group may have added some weight to our proposal to mobilize foreign currency deposits. Mr. Kapila Jayawardena said, “We will be able to offer extremely competitive interest rates, an exceptional service and more importantly a high level of stability to NRFC and RFC account holders. We are also looking at giving very attractive promotional offers to our clientele and are confident that we will be the preferred NRFC /RFC partner to many an investor.“

The LOLC Group is a financial services conglomerate in the country and offers a range of financial solutions such as Insurance, Fixed Deposits & Savings, Factoring & Working Capital, Leasing, Fleet Management, Agro & Micro Finance, Pawning, Stock Brokering, Islamic Finance, and also non-financial solutions such as IT, Project Development, Real Estate and Forestry. The strength of the LOLC group is its Principal, ORIX Corporation of Japan, which is the world’s largest leasing company and Japan’s second largest financial services provider, and the global ORIX network, which spans across 26 countries.

The Group Managing Director Mr. Kapila Jayawardena was extremely pleased with this achievement and excited about the prospects that lie ahead. “Our Main focus in entering this area of business is to significantly increase the volume of inward foreign currency remittances from the many Sri Lankans employed around the world. We have already conducted due diligence in the Italian and Middle Eastern markets and have seen immense potential for ourselves.” stated Mr. Jayawardena.