The Bank of Ceylon’s (BOC) 2017 Annual Report ‘ABC of BOC’, won three Gold Awards at the 32nd annual ‘World’s best Annual Reports - International ARC Awards 2018’, held recently in Germany, organized by the MERCOMM Inc, USA. It is the world’s largest international competition honoring excellence in annual reporting which is also known as the ‘Academy Awards of Annual Reports’. The Bank of Ceylon won gold awards for - Financial Data: Banks- International, Text: Banks- International and Traditional Annual Report: Banks -International.
‘Having competed among many organizations from over sixty countries across the globe, we regard this as an exemplary achievement of our commitment and creativity in reporting whilst adhering to standards expected from a No.1 Bank’ stated Senarath Bandara, the CEO/General Manager.
The Bank ensures that its Annual Report complies with the standards set by regulatory bodies and international reporting guide lines such as International Integrated Reporting (IIR) framework and G4 guidelines issued by the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) for sustainability reporting. ‘ABC of BOC’ is an early adaptation of GRI standards that need to be followed from 2018 onwards.
The BOC’s Annual Report for 2013 named “Bank Beyond” also won three awards at the time.
This unique competition is judged on the Annual report’s success in communicating its company story based on the values of creativity, clarity, effectiveness and excellence. Judges consider special elements such as cover design, President’s letter, interior design, clarity of written text, presentation of corporate information, expression of financial data and how well the ‘spirit of the organisation’ is communicated.
Each entry goes through a stringent process of three separate evaluations.
The independent panel of judges from around the world, consists of leaders in relevant fields.