ComBank wins Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2021

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC was declared Sri Lanka’s ‘Best Corporate Citizen’ in 2021 by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) on Tuesday night, achieving the pinnacle of recognition for sustainability and good corporate citizenship in the country’s corporate sector.

The coveted ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2021’ was presented to Sri Lanka’s benchmark bank at an awards gala attended by the cream of corporate Sri Lanka, in recognition of the Bank’s status as the sustainable champion of the local corporate world.

Commercial Bank also won the award for the Finance sector at the awards for ‘Sector Based Sustainability Champions,’ the ‘Governance’ certificate in the category awards for ‘Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement’ and was second runner-up for the newly-introduced award for ‘Demonstrated Resilient Practices for COVID-19 Context,’ in addition to receiving an award for being among the Top 10 Best Corporate Citizens in Sri Lanka.

“Sustainability is the cornerstone of our corporate ethos and influences everything we do,” Commercial Bank Managing Director and Group CEO S. Renganathan commented. “This is demonstrated by the fact that we are Sri Lanka’s first fully carbon neutral bank. Commercial Bank is therefore elated to win the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award for 2021. This will be a stimulus for an even deeper commitment to best practices in sustainability at every employee level.”

The Finance sector award recognises Commercial Bank’s position as the most progressive banking institution in the country and its commitment to preserving the environment through responsible lending protocols. The Bank’s multifaceted Green initiatives include lending to support Sustainable and Green operations, migrating customers to paperless banking, improving efficiency in the use of energy, water and other resources in its own operations and supporting community initiatives that help conserve habitats and the environment.

The Bank pioneered a mandatory social and environmental screening process for its project lending activities and was the first bank in Sri Lanka to venture into Green Financing. It also revolutionised digital banking by introducing features in its ‘Flash’ mobile application to measure and offset customer impact on the environment. The Bank has also achieved the momentous feat of becoming the largest lender to the SME sector and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s banking sector.