The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has issued operating instructions requiring all Licensed Commercial Banks and the National Savings Bank to follow specified rules when participating in a domestic foreign exchange matching platform, introduced in consultation with participating banks to improve transparency and price discovery, with effect from 16 January 2025. The platform matches buy and sell orders based on banks’ bid and ask rates under pre-set rules and immediately distributes rate and volume details of completed trades to all participating banks. Trading operates from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm on business days, limited to spot US dollar against Sri Lanka rupee, with a minimum order size of USD 250,000 and multiples thereafter, and the Central Bank may change trading hours with prior notice in case of technical issues or emergencies. Executed transactions are to be captured in the Central Integrated Market Monitor (CIMM) automatically, with manual entry and buying-bank confirmation required within 15 minutes if auto-capture fails, and the same process applying to amendments, while post-execution cancellations must be deleted or rejected on both CIMM and the trading platform. Banks must also follow standard settlement procedures, ensure counterparty limits before placing orders, and adhere to the FX Global Code, with deviations treated as a breach that can result in exclusion from the platform.

Original source View in tracker