The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to encourage and advance non-financial reporting in Sri Lanka.

Through the MoU, the three institutions aim to capitalize on mutual interests and synergies to jointly deliver awareness on Integrated Reporting, Corporate Governance, Sustainability and other ESG focus areas. Furthermore, the MoU also paves the way for broader cooperation on ESG, including dialogue and consultations on driving progressive ESG policies & frameworks and the introduction of ESG focused new products in the capital market and joint stakeholder engagement on advancing ESG.

Chairman of the SEC Mr. Viraj Dayaratne PC commenting on the development stated “The MoU with CA Sri Lanka brings together three like-minded institutions, with the common goal of establishing more elaborate and transparent reporting of non-financial information in Sri Lanka. The MoU lays a long-term foundation for the SEC and CSE to work with CA Sri Lanka to introduce policies to ensure that Sri Lankan corporates report more progressively and in-line with international standards, especially in relation to the meaningful disclosure of non-financial information.”

Chairman of CSE Mr. Dilshan Wirasekara commenting on the MoU said “Through this MoU, the CSE aims to work with the SEC and CA Sri Lanka to encourage more Sri Lankan corporates to use non-financial reporting as a means to deliver trust and confidence to the market on long term value creation. Our joint efforts also will focus on aligning the interests of institutions that report on non-financial performance with those who use such information such as investors, analysts and others, which will result in further enhancing the quality of non-financial information and encourage informed decision making.”

President of CA Sri Lanka Mr. Sanjaya Bandara said "Along with financial information, non-financial information is essential for presenting a more comprehensive picture of corporate performance, and CA Sri Lanka is dedicated to promoting both financial and non-financial reporting in our position as the national body of accountants and as the sole standard-setter. Therefore, we are happy to partner with SEC and CSE in this landmark endeavor in our joint efforts to encourage and advance non-financial reporting in Sri Lanka."

Chairman Mr. Viraj Dayaratne PC and Director General Mr. Chinthaka Mendis were signatories to the MoU from the SEC while Chairman Mr. Dilshan Wirasekara and CEO Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike signed on-behalf of the CSE. President Mr. Sanjaya Bandara was the signatory from CA Sri Lanka. SEC Commission Member and Immediate Past President of CA Sri Lanka Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, CA Sri Lanka CEO Ms. Dulani Fernando and other senior officials from the SEC and CSE were also present at the event.

SEC, CSE and CA Sri Lanka Officials at the signing ceremony

Image caption : CASL CEO Ms. Dulani Fernando, SEC Commission Member Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, CASL President Mr. Sanjaya Bandara, SEC Chairman Mr. Viraj Dayaratne PC, CSE Chairman Mr. Dilshan Wirasekara, SEC DG Mr. Chinthaka Mendis and CSE CEO Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike