18. Section 51 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed, and the following new section substituted therefore: -
| 51.
| | (1) subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, the bank is authorized to carry on and transact the several kinds of business hereinafter specified, namely: -
| | | (a) to grant loans, subject to interest, to any person for the purpose of
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| (b) to grant loans of money, subject to interest, to any person for the purpose of conducting any agricultural business, or for the settlement of debts incurred under any mortgage provided such mortgage has been to secure a loan raised for a purpose falling within the purview of the bank; |
| (c) to finance, and to participate In, the share capital of corporations established or maintained with capital wholly or partly provided by the Government and engaged in agriculture ; |
| (d) to grant loans of money to any person for the purpose of carrying out any scheme approved by the Minister of Finance for the development of agriculture; |
| (e) to carry on the business of hire-purchase in agricultural machinery, and equipment used in agriculture; |
| (f) to manage, supervise or control, with or without remuneration, or to participate in the management, supervision or control, with or without remuneration, of any agricultural or other prescribed undertaking of any client of the bank where such management, supervision or control, or such participation therein appears to the board to be necessary in order to protect the interests of the bank in any loan granted by the bank; |
| (g) to act, with or without remuneration, as the technical adviser of any client of the bank, on any matter relating to any agricultural or other prescribed undertaking of such client; |
| (h) to set up the necessary organization for selling or marketing any product of any agricultural or other prescribed undertaking; |
| (i) to act as the agent of any client of the bank, or any other person, for the purpose of the purchase of any machinery or equipment or of any material of any description, required for the purpose of any agricultural or other prescribed under-taking of such client, or other person, as the case may be; |
| (j) for the purpose of employing any surplus funds of the bank, to buy, sell, invest or deal in stocks, shares, debentures, mortgages, bonds or securities issued or guaranteed by the Government or the Central Bank; |
| (k) to make arrangements for the insurance of any property mortgaged to the bank by any client of the bank; |
| (l) to acquire and undertake the whole or any part of any business carried on in Ceylon by any person, being a business which the bank is authorized to carry on; |
| (m) with effect from such date as may be fixed by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette, to acquire the whole or any part or share of any agricultural, residential or business premises and dispose of such premises for the purpose of the administration of the provision of Chapter VA; |
| (n) to purchase, take on lease or in exchange, hire, or otherwise acquire any movable or immovable property, and any rights or privileges which the bank may think necessary or convenient with reference to any business which the bank is authorized to carry on, or the acquisition of which the bank may deem to be necessary or advisable in order to facilitate the realization of any securities held by the bank, or to prevent or diminish any apprehended loss or liability; |
| (o) to establish and support, or aid in the establishment and support of, associations, institutions, trusts or schemes for the providing of pensions and of gratuities and other funds and conveniences calculated to benefit employees of the bank or the dependants of such employees; |
| (p) to improve, manage, develop, exchange, lease, mortgage, dispose of, sell, turn to account or otherwise deal with, all or any part of the property, and rights of the bank, including any property, movable or immovable, on the security of which the bank may have made any loan, or over which the bank may have any power of disposal; |
| (q) to give any guarantee or indemnity and to enter into any agreements with the Government or any local authority or with any body corporate or other person, in order to obtain any rights, concessions and privileges that may seem to the bank to be conducive to any object of the bank; |
| (s) to borrow or accept deposits from the Government, or the Central Bank, or other such institutions as are approved for the purpose by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, on such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon by them so however that the aggregate amount so borrowed and accepted as deposits at any time does not exceed the maximum limit imposed by the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance; |
| (t) to accept a contribution, not exceeding five million rupees, from the Government towards the reserve fund of the bank, subject to such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon by them; |
| (u) to establish and maintain any institute, or to participate in any scheme, for the provision of technical, financial and management services; |
| (v) to conduct economic surveys, studies and seminars; |
| (w) to train selected personnel of the bank and other persons in accountancy, banking and valuation, project and credit appraisal, and engineering and scientific skills; |
| (y) to invest the funds of the bank in the shares, debentures or other appropriate securities of public or private companies engaged in agriculture; |
| (z) generally to take, or concur in taking, all such steps and proceedings as the bank may deem to be best calculated to uphold and support the credit of the bank, and to do all things incidental or conducive to the attainment of the objects, or the exercise of the powers, set out in the preceding paragraphs. |
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| | (2) Any object or purpose mentioned in any paragraph of sub-section (1) of this section shall not, except where the context expressly so requires or where any limitation or restriction has been prescribed, be in any way limited or restricted by reference to, or inference from, the terms of any other paragraph of that sub-section, or the objects therein specified, or otherwise. And provided further that no loan exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees shall be granted by a resolution passed by the favourable votes of less than three directors. | | |
| | (3) In this section, the expression " client of the bank " means a person who is in receipt of assistance from the bank under this Ordinance. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts