The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (Monetary Board) has decided to suspend business of Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFSP), in terms of Section 31(1) of the Finance Business Act, No. 42 of 2011 (FBA) with effect from 5:00 p.m. on 12th April 2021. Having considered the continuously deteriorating financial condition and non-availability of a viable revival plan, the Monetary Board decided to suspend the business of SFSP and its parent Company ETI Finance Limited (ETIF) in terms of Section 31(1) of the FBA with effect from 13th July 2020 and the period of suspension of business activities was in effect until 12th January 2021. During the suspended period the Company failed to bring in an acceptable revival plan through a capital infusion even after expiry of almost six (06) months from the date of suspension of the business activities and the financial position of SFSP continued to deteriorate further.

Considering the recent inquiries on virtual currency usage in the international and domestic markets, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) wishes to inform the public of the risks associated with investing in Virtual Currencies. “Virtual Currencies (VCs)” are digital tokens created by private entities that can be obtained online through mining, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or through Virtual Currency Exchanges. VCs are also commonly referred to as cryptocurrencies. Popular VCs include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin. While VCs have their own value denominations such as bitcoins for Bitcoin and ethers for Ethereum, they are usually valued in VC Exchanges in currencies issued by Central Banks, e.g., US dollar (USD), Japanese Yen, etc. However, it is important to note that VCs are not issued by Central Banks and are also not generally backed by underlying assets. Therefore, their values are determined by speculation of the public on VC Exchanges.