Two large commercial banks of Sri Lanka, the DFCC Bank and the National Development Bank (NDB), are considering a merger. In a stock market disclosure today, the board of directors of the two banks said in pursuance of the policies announced by the government to encourage consolidation of certain banking businesses, they are about to commence preliminary discussions with a view to achieving such consolidation. However, the boards of the two banks emphasized that there have been no definite decisions on any aspect of such consolidation. The final decisions will depend among others, on arrangements being agreed keeping the best interests of the customers, employees including those of the DFCC Vardhana Bank , the core subsidiary of DFCC, and other stakeholders of the banks. Moreover, the consolidation of the two banks will depend on the regulatory approvals and possibly, the passage of facilitative legislation, the banks said.
