The attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has been drawn to certain information published in newspapers and news websites on 26th November 2019 regarding the regulatory actions taken by the CBSL on The Finance Company PLC (TFC) and it wishes to clarify the following. 

The CBSL issued a notice of cancellation of the licence granted to TFC to carry on finance business under the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011 (FBA) on 23rd October 2019. The CBSL also informed that in terms of the provisions of the FBA, the company has the right to submit an acceptable proposal for investment in TFC along with proof of funds for capital infusion and a Business Restructuring Plan for the consideration of the CBSL within 30 days from the date of issuance of such notice. 

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has received information regarding several types of financial frauds and scams being operated through social media, and Internet-based applications. Recently, an increase of these types of scams has been observed.

Most of these scams are conducted through easy loan schemes that attract the public. During such fraudulent loan approval processes, the fraudsters lure the public to share confidential customer information such as their bank account numbers and the customer’s personal identification numbers. The fraudsters then use such confidential information to access customer accounts and steal customers’ money.