CASL’s Annual Report Awards competition to recommence

The emphasis of this year’s awards will be on transparency, corporate governance, and social responsibility. President CA Sri Lanka Manil Jayesinghe said, “Companies must be transparent.” Jayesinghe went on to note that the emphasis this year’s awards have chosen are ‘vital pillars’ of annual reports.

Jayesinghe was speaking on Tuesday at the CA Sri Lanka Head Office in Colombo 07. Sri Lanka has one sole entity for accounting standards. It has become common practice that Presidents of CA Sri Lanka become part of the Securities and Exchange Commission. CA Sri Lanka prides itself on acting as a force that creates credible information to market intermediaries.

Annual Reports Award Committee Chairman Chaaminda Kumarasiri noted that last year’s COVID-19 pandemic limited the capability of CASL to host the awards. He noted that the awards were a mechanism to ensure higher compliance with the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards and this year’s awards would be interesting given the advent of disclosures on the financial impact of COVID-19.

CSE Chairman Dumith Fernando noted that the CSE valued its now 6-year partnership with the award ceremony. He highlighted that many award ceremonies do not have as long a history as that of the Annual Report Awards. The CSE has committed financial support of Rs 2 million for the event.

There will be 26 categories with awards for gold, silver, and bronze. There will be special awards for corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and integrated reporting. Assessment will rely solely on the figures published by the companies and be compared against assessment criteria. CA Sri Lanka representatives noted that the awards do not reflect the appropriateness of the accounting policies or managerial decisions of the underlying entity.