EY Sri Lanka, is scheduled to host a Sri Lanka Banking Conference titled ‘Surfing Through the Crisis’, on the 14^th of November 2022, at Galle Face Hotel from 8.30 a.m. onwards. The event is designed to create value for Sri Lanka’s financial sector amidst the prevailing economic crisis. As the largest service providers to the financial sector in terms of audits, tax, consultancy, and strategy & transaction, EY feels compelled to assist the financial sector as they navigate the challenges of the economic crisis.

The Sri Lanka Banking Conference, ‘Surfing through the Crisis’, is designed specifically for CEOs, CFOs, and CRO of the financial sector, as well as the chairpersons of the Audit Committee and the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee. The event will cover three Technical Sessions on topics pertinent to the events brought about by the economic crisis, followed by a ‘Fire Side Chat’, among a panel of financial sector experts, with a multitude of experience in Sri Lanka.

The first Technical Session ‘Important aspects of strengthening the SME Sector for resilient economic growth and important considerations for the financial service sector’ will be conducted by Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Principal Financial Specialist of Asian Development Bank (ADB). The session will highlight the importance of supporting the SME Sector, which accounts for over 52% of the local GDP, and the role of Banks in providing financial support assistance. Especially how an increase in cost funding could affect the growth in SME sector and approaches that can be considered during the economic recovery.

The second session will cover, ‘The Impact of the Debt Restructuring Process to the Financial Services Sector, and Non-performing resolution strategy’ conducted by Mr. Saleem Malik, Financial Services Leader, EY Global. Mr. Malik will share his experience and insights on the steps that may need to be taken to overcome the current economic conditions by combining his experiences in other jurisdictions especially relating to Greece and Ireland. He will also discuss how banks should navigate important decision making relating to Non-Performing Loan resolution strategies which will help the local financial institutions significantly.

The third and final session, ‘Key Considerations for Credit and Liquidity Risk Management for banks’ hosted by Mr. Rajith Perera, Partner, EY Sri Lanka will explore the topic from a local standpoint, referring to the challenges currently faced by banks and financial entities, in terms of their existing profiles, credit, marketing, and operations, and how they can be managed by understanding critical thresholds.

The Technical Sessions will be followed by a ‘Fire Side Chat’ moderated by Mr. Arjuna Herath, Senior Partner, Head of Consulting at EY Sri Lanka, with a panel comprising of Dr. Nishan De Mel, Executive Director, Verite Research, Mr. Bingumal Thewarathanthri, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka, Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, Country Managing Partner, EY Sri Lanka, Mr. Duminda Hulangamuwa, Senior Partner and Head of Tax, EY Sri Lanka, and Mr. Jonathan Alles, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC. The objective of the ‘Fire Side Chat’ is to deliberate the topics brought forward in the Technical Sessions, into a more local context, with the aim of finding solutions to the prevailing economic conditions in the market.

The Sri Lanka Banking Conference consists of both local and global experts in the financial industry. It is specially designed to address and discuss the most pressing matters brought about by the current economic conditions and will play a pivotal role in the decisions that are to be made in terms of strategizing Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.