National Development Bank (NDB) has appointed KPMG Chartered Accountants as its external auditor for the financial year ending 31 December 2026, replacing Ernst & Young (EY).
NDB disclosed the change in a Colombo Stock Exchange filing, citing compliance with Direction No. 6.2(d)(iv) of the Central Bank’s Banking Act Directions No. 5 of 2024, which stipulates that the engagement of an external auditor shall not exceed six years.
“As per Resolution No. 05, Messrs. KPMG, Chartered Accountants have been appointed as the External Auditor of the Bank for the financial year ending 31 December 2026, and Messrs. Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants have ceased to hold offices External Auditor,” the bank said.
The change comes against the backdrop of NDB’s admission on April 6 that a Rs.13.2 billion fraud had taken place within the bank. EY served as the external auditor for the 2025 financial year and did not identify the fraud.
NDB separately announced on April 23 that it had contracted Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India to conduct a forensic review of the fraud, with findings to be reported to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The parallel governance actions — a new external auditor and an independent forensic audit — mark an escalation in accountability following the disclosure. The Criminal Investigation Department has arrested four suspects linked to the fraud, and the CBSL is conducting regulatory oversight after a parliamentary question on its supervisory role.
