History was made when the Commercial Bank of Maldives, a subsidiary of Commercial Bank of Ceylon and a joint venture with Tree Top Investments Maldives, formally inaugurated its banking operations in the Maldives on Monday, 26th September with the opening of its head office and the first branch in the archipelago’s capital Malé by Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Bringing together the time-tested expertise and strength of Sri Lanka’s benchmark private bank, which holds a majority stake of 55%, and the deep local market knowledge of the Maldivian partner, which owns 45% of the joint venture, Commercial Bank of Maldives said it will follow a strategy of providing access to its services through the integration of modern technology and infrastructure to serve the growing consumer and business needs in the market.It aims to be the most technologically advanced, innovative, customer friendly and most sought-after financial services organisation in Maldives.

The joint venture is the third overseas banking operation of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon, after Bangladesh, which the Bank entered in 2003, and Myanmar where the Bank opened a Representative Office in June 2015.

“We are truly delighted to be here,” said Commercial Bank of Ceylon Managing Director/CEO Mr Jegan Durairatnam, who led a team from the corporate management of the Bank to the opening ceremony in Malé. “Our countries enjoy extremely close social and economic ties, and our Bank is well known to thousands of Maldivians. Many businesses in this beautiful country have already obtained off-shore loans from us and are among our most valued customers.”

Commercial Bank of Maldives will offer individuals and corporate entities in the Maldives an extensive range of financial services in three categories. Its Investment Products portfolio will include Savings accounts, Senior Citizens accounts, Children’s saving accounts, Power Savings accounts, Fixed Deposits and Treasury products.

Commercial Bank’s first overseas operation was launched with the acquisition of the Bangladesh operations of Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI). Today, the Bank’s operations in Bangladesh have grown to 18 outlets, and have won numerous awards including the Financial Mirror - Robintex Business Award for outstanding performance, the Financial News Services (FNS) Business Award for the 'Best Performing Foreign Bank' in Bangladesh and the ICMAB, National Best Corporate Award.

The Bank’s second overseas operation offers Banking and Advisory Services to Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi businesses wishing to enter Myanmar. Commercial Bank was the first Sri Lankan bank to be granted a licence by the Central Bank of Myanmar to operate a Representative Office in that country.