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The
battle for Commercial Bank on Wednesday Mr. Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s most powerful business tycoon who according to some accounts controls probably a quarter of the listed private sector, wants to oust Amarasuriya as chairman of the bank, but three court actions and some shareholders stand in his way. The extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday, called at the request of two Jayawardene-controlled shareholders – Sri Lanka Insurance and Distilleries - seeks to remove Amarasuriya as a director of the board. His path was blocked by three court actions filed by unions, a shareholder and a shareholder-depositor saying to reduce the stake held by DFCC to a maximum 10 percent as prescribed by law. If Harry Jayawardene succeeds, which many analysts predict, he would then control three giant banks, Commercial Bank, HNB and DFCC after failing in an earlier attempt to seize control of Sampath Bank. Mr. Jayawardene has more than 40% indirect control of the bank. An IFC spokesman said they didn’t see any reason for change. “We are shareholders of the bank since 2003 and it has been well run under Mr. Amarasuriya. There is no reason for change. We have also been of the view that too much ownership under one individual is not good,” noted Sanjiva Senanayake, IFC Representative in Sri Lanka. Stakes in banks are restricted to a maximum 10% per shareholder but special Central Bank permission can be obtained for a higher stake which IFC did two years ago.
More than 1,000 shareholders are expected for the meeting at Holiday
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