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- INTEGRATED REPORT
- Organisational overview
- Performance review
- Operating environment
- Business model for sustainable value creation
- Management discussion and analysis
-
Governance and risk management
As permitted by the International <IR> Framework, this Annual Report constitutes a distinct and prominent section on Integrated Report, followed by Financial Statements and other supplementary information. The Integrated Report adheres to the guiding principles and content elements outlined in the Framework. As affirmed in the Annual Report of the Board of Directors, due diligence has been exercised in preparing and presenting this Integrated Report to uphold its integrity.
- FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Financial Statements, including the Accounting Policies and accompanying notes, adhere to all relevant Accounting Standards and are devoid of significant misstatements. As affirmed in the Auditors’ Report, these Financial Statements provide a true and fair view of the Bank’s performance, financial position, changes in equity and cash flows. The Auditors have expressed an unmodified opinion on these Financial Statements, as stated in their “Independent Auditors’ Report” to the shareholders.
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
- Annex 1: Compliance with Governance Directions, Rules and Codes
- Annex 2: Basel III – Disclosures under Pillar III as per the Banking Act Direction No. 01 of 2016
- Annex 3: GRI content index
- Annex 4: Our sustainability footprint
- Annex 5: Disclosures relating to Sustainability Accounting Standard for Commercial Banks
- Annex 6: Independent Assurance Reports
- Annex 7: The Bank’s organisation structure
- Annex 8: Financial Statements (US Dollars)
- Annex 9: Correspondent banks and agent network
- Annex 10: Glossary of financial and banking terms
- Annex 11: Acronyms and abbreviations
- Annex 12: Alphabetical index
- Annex 13: Index of figures, tables and graphs
- Notice of Meeting – Annual General Meeting
- Circular to the Shareholders on the First and Final Dividend for 2023
- Notice of Meeting – Extraordinary General Meeting
- Circular to Shareholders Pertaining to the Proposed Issue of Debentures
- Corporate Information
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Annex 6:
Independent Assurance Reports
Annex 6.1:
Independent Practitioner’s Assurance Report to the Board of Directors of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC on the Sustainability Reporting Criteria Presented in the Integrated Annual Report FY 2023
Scope
We have been engaged by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC to perform a ‘limited assurance engagement,’ as defined by Sri Lanka Standard on Assurance Engagements, here after referred to as the engagement, to report on Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) indicators (the “Subject Matter”) contained in Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s (the “Entity’s”) Integrated Annual Report/Annual Report/Sustainability Report for the year ended 31st December 2023 (the “Report”).
Other than as described in the preceding paragraph, which sets out the scope of our engagement, we did not perform assurance procedures on the remaining information included in the Report, and accordingly, we do not express a conclusion on this information.
Criteria applied by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
In preparing the Subject Matter, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC applied the following criteria (“Criteria”):
- The Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, publicly available at https://www.globalreporting.org
Such Criteria were specifically designed for the purpose of assisting you in determining whether Entity’s Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) indicators contained in the Entity’s Report is presented in accordance with the relevant criteria; As a result, the subject matter information may not be suitable for another purpose.
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s responsibilities
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC management is responsible for selecting the Criteria, and for presenting the Subject Matter in accordance with that Criteria, in all material respects. This responsibility includes establishing and maintaining internal controls, maintaining adequate records and making estimates that are relevant to the preparation of the subject matter, such that it is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Ernst & Young’s responsibilities
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the presentation of the Subject Matter based on the evidence we have obtained.
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the Sri Lanka Standard for Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information (SLSAE 3000 (Revised), and the terms of reference for this engagement as agreed with the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC on March 01, 2024. Those standards require that we plan and perform our engagement to express a conclusion on whether we are aware of any material modifications that need to be made to the Subject Matter in order for it to be in accordance with the Criteria, and to issue a report. The nature, timing, and extent of the procedures selected depend on our judgment, including an assessment of the risk of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
We believe that the evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our limited assurance conclusions.
Our independence and quality management
We have maintained our independence and confirm that we have met the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and have the required competencies and experience to conduct this assurance engagement.
EY also applies International Standard on Quality Management 1, Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Statements, or Other Assurance or Related Services engagements, which requires that we design, implement and operate a system of quality management including policies or procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Description of procedures performed
Procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and timing from and are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement. Consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. Our procedures were designed to obtain a limited level of assurance on which to base our conclusion and do not provide all the evidence that would be required to provide a reasonable level of assurance.
Although we considered the effectiveness of management’s internal controls when determining the nature and extent of our procedures, our assurance engagement was not designed to provide assurance on internal controls. Our procedures did not include testing controls or performing procedures relating to checking aggregation or calculation of data within IT systems.
A limited assurance engagement consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for preparing the subject matter and related information and applying analytical and other appropriate procedures.
Our procedures included:
- Validated the information presented and checked the calculations performed by the organisation through recalculation.
- Performed a comparison of the content given in the Report against the criteria given in the selected sustainability standards/frameworks.
- Conducted interviews with relevant organisation’s personnel to understand the process for collection, analysis, aggregation and presentation of data. Interviews included selected key management personnel and relevant staff.
- Read the content presented in the Report for consistency with our overall knowledge obtained during the course of our assurance engagement and requested changes wherever required.
- Provided guidance, recommendations and feedback on the improvement of the sustainability reporting indicators to improve the presentation standard.
We also performed such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
Emphasis of matter
Economic, Environment, Social management data/information are subject to inherent limitations given their nature and the methods used for determining, calculating and estimating such data. Such inherent limitations are common in Sri Lanka.
We also do not provide any assurance on the assumptions and achievability of prospective information presented in the Entity’s Report.
Conclusion
Based on our procedures and the evidence obtained, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the information on the Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) contained in the Integrated Annual Report of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC for the year ended
December 31, 2023, in order for it to be in accordance with the Criteria.
March 02, 2024
Colombo
Annex 6.2:
Independent Practitioner’s Assurance Report to the Board of Directors of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC on the Integrated Annual Report 2023
Scope
We have been engaged by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC to perform a ‘limited assurance engagement,’ as defined by Sri Lanka Standard on Assurance Engagements, here after referred to as the engagement, to report on Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s Information on how it's strategy, governance, performance and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation, preservation or erosion of value over the short, medium and long term (the “Subject Matter”) contained in Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s (the “Entity’s”) Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2023 (the “Report”).
Other than as described in the preceding paragraph, which sets out the scope of our engagement, we did not perform assurance procedures on the remaining information included in the Report, and accordingly, we do not express a conclusion on this information.
Criteria applied by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
In preparing the Subject Matter, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC applied the Integrated Reporting Framework (<IR> Framework) issued by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) (“Criteria”):
Such Criteria were specifically designed for the purpose of assisting in determining whether the capital management, stakeholder engagement, business model, strategy, organisational overview & external environment outlook presented in the Integrated Annual Report is presented in accordance with the relevant criteria; As a result, the subject matter information may not be suitable for another purpose.
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC’s responsibilities
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC management is responsible for selecting the Criteria, and for presenting the Subject Matter in accordance with that Criteria, in all material respects. This responsibility includes establishing and maintaining internal controls, maintaining adequate records and making estimates that are relevant to the preparation of the subject matter, such that it is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Ernst & Young’s responsibilities
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the presentation of the Subject Matter based on the evidence we have obtained.
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the Sri Lanka Standard for Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information (SLSAE 3000 (Revised), and the terms of reference for this engagement as agreed with the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC on March 01, 2024. Those standards require that we plan and perform our engagement to express a conclusion on whether we are aware of any material modifications that need to be made to the Subject Matter in order for it to be in accordance with the Criteria, and to issue a report. The nature, timing, and extent of the procedures selected depend on our judgment, including an assessment of the risk of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
We believe that the evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our limited assurance conclusions.
Our independence and quality management
We have maintained our independence and confirm that we have met the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and have the required competencies and experience to conduct this assurance engagement.
EY also applies International Standard on Quality Management 1, Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Statements, or Other Assurance or Related Services engagements, which requires that we design, implement and operate a system of quality management including policies or procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Description of procedures performed
Procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and timing from and are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement. Consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. Our procedures were designed to obtain a limited level of assurance on which to base our conclusion and do not provide all the evidence that would be required to provide a reasonable level of assurance.
Although we considered the effectiveness of management’s internal controls when determining the nature and extent of our procedures, our assurance engagement was not designed to provide assurance on internal controls. Our procedures did not include testing controls or performing procedures relating to checking aggregation or calculation of data within IT systems.
A limited assurance engagement consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for preparing the subject matter and related information and applying analytical and other appropriate procedures.
Our procedures included:
- Performed a comparison of the content of the Integrated Annual Report against the Guiding Principles and Content Elements given in the Integrated Reporting Framework (<IR> Framework).
- Checked whether the information contained in the Integrated Annual Report – Financial Capital element information has been properly derived from the audited financial statements.
- Conducted interviews with the selected key management personnel and relevant staff and obtained an understanding of the internal controls, governance structure and reporting process relevant to the Integrated Report.
- Obtained an understanding of the relevant internal policies and procedures developed, including those relevant to determining what matters most to the stakeholders, how the organisation creates value, the external environment, strategy, approaches to putting members first, governance and reporting.
- Obtained an understanding of the description of the organisation’s strategy and how the organisation creates value, what matters most to the stakeholders and enquiring the management as to whether the description in the Integrated Report accurately reflects their understanding.
- Checked the Board of Directors meeting minutes during the financial year to ensure consistency with the content of the Integrated Report.
- Tested the relevant supporting evidence related to qualitative & quantitative disclosures within the Integrated Report against identified material aspects.
- Read the Integrated Report in its entirety for consistency with our overall knowledge obtained during the assurance engagement.
We also performed such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
Emphasis of matter
Economic, Environment, Social and Intellectual capital management data/information are subject to inherent limitations given their nature and the methods used for determining, calculating and estimating such data. Such inherent limitations are common in Sri Lanka.
We also do not provide any assurance on the assumptions and achievability of prospective information presented in the Entity’s Annual Report.
Conclusion
Based on our procedures and the evidence obtained, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the information contained in the Integrated Annual Report of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC for the year ended December 31, 2023, in order for it to be in accordance with the Criteria.
March 02, 2024
Colombo