Employees of an authorised person are remunerated in a designated foreign currency other than Sri Lanka Rupees — section 35(1) as replaced.
An authorised person may accept Sri Lanka Rupees for goods or services supplied within the Area of Authority to a citizen or resident of Sri Lanka, and may convert those rupees into a designated foreign currency as prescribed under the Foreign Exchange Act, No. 12 of 2017 — section 36 as amended in 2026.
A citizen or resident of Sri Lanka may use retail facilities and services inside the Area of Authority — restaurants, cinemas, entertainment, shopping, parking — paying in Sri Lanka Rupees. Any levy on goods taken out of the Area of Authority is as prescribed, and the authorised person may convert the receipts into designated foreign currency as prescribed. Section 40.
Offshore banking after the 2026 amendment
A company or body corporate incorporated in another country and authorised to carry on banking business there may apply to the Commission for a licence to engage in offshore banking business in and from the Area of Authority — section 42(2) as replaced. The licence is granted under this Act — section 42(3) as amended.
Supervision, however, sits with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Section 42A requires the Central Bank to regulate and supervise licensees and empowers it to issue orders, directions and determinations in accordance with international standards adopted from time to time, which the licensee must comply with. Sections 42B to 42E impose minimum capital, capital adequacy and leverage requirements, a risk management framework covering credit, operational, liquidity and market risk, liquidity requirements, and periodic public disclosure of financial position, capital adequacy and liquidity.
Section 42F gives the Central Bank power to require corrective measures or impose penalties and restrictions where a licensee breaches the Act, engages in fraudulent, unsafe or unsound practices, or operates in a manner the Central Bank considers detrimental to financial stability — and preserves its ability to recommend suspension, revocation or cancellation to the Minister assigned the subject of Finance.
- With non-residents
- Accept savings, time and demand deposits in designated foreign currency; borrow in designated foreign currency; extend accommodation in designated foreign currency; and engage in any other designated-foreign-currency transaction with a non-resident.
- With other offshore units
- Engage in any transaction in designated foreign currency with another offshore unit.
- With residents
- Accept deposits from, or lend to, an authorised person or resident in designated foreign currency — but only with the prior written approval of the Central Bank, which must satisfy itself that the transaction is not detrimental to domestic price stability, financial system stability, or the management of official international reserves under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act, No. 16 of 2023.
- Rupee account
- A licensee may open and maintain a non-interest-bearing rupee account at a licensed commercial bank in Sri Lanka to meet its own operating expenditure, credited by conversion of foreign currency remitted into Sri Lanka.
