On 18 June 2026, the Government of Sri Lanka published Extraordinary Gazette No. 2493/39, introducing the Imports and Exports (Control) Regulations No. 06 of 2026 under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, No. 1 of 1969 (‘New Regulation’). Signed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the Regulations took effect on 19 June 2026 and amend the Special Import License and Payment Regulations No. 1 of 2011.

At first glance, the amendments read as procedural updates to import licensing. However, when viewed alongside Sri Lanka’s evolving anti-money laundering (AML), foreign exchange and trade compliance framework, and against the backdrop of the recently disclosed advance import payment frauds involving substantial amounts of money, the Regulations carry much wider significance for importers and commercial banks across the country.

What the Regulations Require

The Regulations impose two connected obligations that together create a robust monitoring framework for outward remittances linked to imports:

• Importer registration: Advance payments for imports may only be effected through commercial banks once the relevant importer has been duly registered with Sri Lanka Customs.
• Bank verification and reporting: Commercial banks are prohibited from processing advance payments for imports unless the importer’s Customs registration has been verified, and must transmit prescribed transaction details to Sri Lanka Customs.

Under the New Regulation, commercial banks are required to assign a unique transaction number to every import-related foreign currency payment, and to transmit detailed transaction information to the Customs Department, including the importer’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), the addresses of both remitter and beneficiary, applicable banking codes, and proforma invoice numbers.

Taken together, these requirements create a documentary and electronic audit trail that allows the Department of Imports and Exports Control, Sri Lanka Customs and commercial banks to reconcile foreign currency remitted overseas as advance payments with the corresponding importation of goods.

Why the Timing Matters

The Regulations follow closely on the disclosure of a substantial purported bogus import payment scheme, reported to involve a significant amount of money in outward remittances made under the guise of import transactions without corresponding goods being imported. Government officials have indicated that the new framework is intended to strengthen coordination and oversight to close gaps in the import process that may be exploited for fraudulent activities.

Officials have also sought to reassure the trading community that the measures are not intended to create new bureaucratic obstacles for legitimate trade. The stated policy objective is narrower and more targeted, to protect national foreign exchange reserves and to prevent the import-export process from being used as a conduit to move funds offshore without a genuine trade justification.

For businesses that already maintain proper import documentation, up-to-date Customs registration and coherent trade finance records, the practical impact of the New Regulations should be limited to additional verification steps at the point of payment, rather than a fundamental change to how legitimate trade is financed.

By requiring that advance payments be linked to a registered importer and reported electronically, the framework narrows the space in which cross-border value transfers can be disguised as import transactions without leaving a regulatory trail. In that sense, the New Regulations appear to reinforce the integrity of the formal banking channel.

Part of a Broader Regulatory Trend

These Regulations should not be read in isolation. Over the past several years, Sri Lanka has progressively strengthened its regulatory architecture across a number of interconnected areas, including:

• Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT);
• Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) disclosure requirements;
• foreign exchange controls under the Foreign Exchange Act;
• enhanced customer due diligence (CDD) and know-your-customer (KYC) obligations for banks and financial institutions;
• digital reporting and inter-agency information sharing; and
• compliance obligations applicable to financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions.

Viewed collectively, these developments point to an increasingly coordinated, whole-of-government approach to financial transparency, in which Sri Lanka Customs, the Central Bank, commercial banks, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Inland Revenue Department are progressively better positioned to cross-reference data drawn from trade, banking and tax sources.

Practical Implications for Importers

Businesses engaged in international trade should treat the New Regulations as a prompt to review, and where necessary tighten, their existing compliance procedures. In particular, importers should ensure that:

• Customs registration is current, accurate and consistent with the entity actually effecting import payments;
• supporting documentation for advance payments, including proforma invoices and TIN details, is complete and readily available;
• finance, procurement and logistics functions are properly coordinated so that payment instructions match underlying trade documentation;
• foreign remittances can be reconciled against Customs import declarations without delay; and
• internal AML/CFT controls and trade finance risk assessments are updated to reflect the enhanced reporting environment.

Practical Implications for Commercial Banks

Commercial banks should ensure that internal systems are capable of verifying Customs registration before processing advance import payments, that unique transaction numbers are correctly generated and recorded, and that the prescribed data fields are transmitted to Sri Lanka Customs accurately and on time. Customer onboarding, trade finance operations and compliance monitoring functions should be aligned to the new reporting requirements, and staff training should be updated accordingly to reduce the risk of inadvertent non-compliance.

Looking Ahead

The New Regulation is best understood as more than an administrative adjustment to import procedures. It reflects a deliberate policy choice to strengthen regulatory oversight of cross-border financial flows connected with trade, at a time when Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange position and financial system integrity remain matters of close government attention. For importers, commercial banks and compliance professionals, the message is consistent with the broader direction of travel in Sri Lankan financial regulation: foreign exchange transactions, trade documentation and AML/CFT compliance are becoming increasingly interconnected, and businesses that treat them as separate, siloed functions do so at their own risk.