Commercial Bank plans ESOP linked to up to 3% equity stake

Commercial Bank yesterday said its board has resolved to establish an employee share option plan (ESOP) for the 2026-2028 period, under which the employees could be granted options over up to 46.2 million ordinary voting shares.

In a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the bank said the proposed ESOP 2026 would allow for the grant of a maximum of 46,195,156 options, based on the number of shares in issue as at January 29, 2026. This represents up to 3.0 percent of the bank’s ordinary voting shares.

As at January 29, 2026, Commercial Bank’s stated capital stood at Rs.91.65 billion, represented by 1,539,838,556 ordinary voting shares and 96,341,685 non-voting shares.

The bank said the granting of options under the proposed scheme would be carried out in compliance with the CSE’s Listing Rules and would be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. This includes obtaining the in-principle approval from the CSE for the issue and listing of shares arising from the ESOP as well as approval from the shareholders by way of a special resolution at a general meeting.