The Committee on Public Finance recently summoned officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to Parliament to inquire into the financial irregularities identified at NDB Bank and the final audit report relating to the matter.

The Committee meeting, chaired by Hon. Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva, discussed irregularities identified in NDB Bank’s financial statements, shortcomings in the audit process, and the relevant audit reports.

The meeting was attended by Hon. Deputy Ministers Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Dr. Kaushalya Ariyaratne, and Nishantha Jayaweera, as well as Hon. Members of Parliament Attorney-at-Law Rauff Hakeem, Ravi Karunanayake, Ajith Agalakada, Nimal Palihena, Wijesiri Basnayake, M.K.M. Aslam, Champika Hettiarachchi, and Attorney-at-Law Lakmali Hemachandra.

The Committee also focused on the findings of the investigation conducted by the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAAMB), as well as the findings revealed through the investigation conducted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP. In particular, the Committee inquired into the failure of the external auditors to identify irregularities in NDB Bank’s financial statements.

The accountability of senior management with regard to corporate governance and risk management in relation to the financial irregularities was also discussed.

Furthermore, as a significant proportion of NDB Bank’s shares are held by institutions representing public and state funds, the Committee also considered the potential impact of such financial irregularities on public funds and the general public.

The Committee also discussed the progress made by LankaPay in establishing a centralized fraud monitoring system to prevent fraud within the financial system. The need to strengthen fraud monitoring systems at the individual bank level to monitor transactions carried out within each bank was also emphasized.

Accordingly, the following observations are included in the final audit report concerning the financial irregularities at NDB Bank:

1.    The audit covers the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2026. The audit report specifically identifies the financial impact arising from fraudulent transactions amounting to Rs. 13,639,664,684 (Rs. 13.6 billion).
2.    According to the disclosure made on 29 September 2026, the financial impact arising from the fraudulent transactions is as follows:
•    Rs. 1.5 billion for the period prior to 1 January 2025;
•    Rs. 9.6 billion during 2025; and
•    Rs. 2.5 billion for the quarter ended 31 March 2026.

3.    Compared with the initial disclosure made by NDB on 6 April 2026, the reported amount of the fraud has increased by Rs. 0.4 billion, from Rs. 13.2 billion to Rs. 13.6 billion. Compared with the amount disclosed by NDB on 26 June 2026, based on the interim report dated 22 June 2026, the additional amount of fraud is Rs. 60 million.

4.    The final audit report has also confirmed the previous disclosures that no customer accounts were affected as a result of the fraud incident.

5.    The report has identified several governance failures at NDB relating to the processing of CEFT transactions, user-level activities within the Core Banking System, and the management of user credentials and access information. In addition, shortcomings have been identified in several operational areas, including transaction monitoring, daily account reconciliation, financial compliance, internal audit, branch network management, and operational risk management.

6.    The audit report has made comprehensive recommendations to strengthen the control mechanisms, governance structures, and processes relating to the above-mentioned activities of the bank.