Board of Directors
J Durairatnam
Chairman
Independent Non-Executive Director (Member of the Board since August 2018 and as Chairman from July 2019)
Skills and experience
Mr Durairatnam possesses extensive experience in banking having been with Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC covering a period of 36 years. He served as a Director of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC from April 2012 to July 2014 and as the Managing Director/CEO from July 2014 until his retirement in July 2018. He has served in several other Senior Management positions at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC including as Chief Operating Officer, Deputy General Manager – International, Assistant General Manager – International and Head of Imports. He has held the position of Managing Director of Commercial Development Company PLC and has served as a Director on the Board of Lanka Financial Services Bureau Limited.
He holds a BSc from the University of Peradeniya and an Executive Diploma from the University of Colombo.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Director of Asian Hotels and Properties PLC.
Others: Director of Ceylinco Life Insurance Limited and Assetline Leasing Company Limited.
N H T I Perera
Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (Member of the Board since July 2019 and as CEO from January 2022)
Skills and experience
Mr Perera held the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer from August 2017 to December 2021. He has held several senior positions in the banking sector and has over two decades of experience in the financial services and banking sector, both locally and internationally having been with the HSBC Group, both in Sri Lanka and overseas, the Commercial Bank of Qatar, Barclays Bank PLC, UAE and at Hatton National Bank. He has served as a Board member of HNB Assurance PLC, HNB General Insurance Limited and HNB Finance Limited.
He is a Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) – UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Director of Lanka Ventures PLC and LVL Energy Fund PLC.
Others: Chairman of Synapsys Limited, Acuity Partners Limited, and DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Limited and a Director of Lanka Clear (Pvt) Limited.
P M B Fernando
Senior Director
Independent Non-Executive Director
(Member of the Board since July 2013)
Skills and experience
Mr Fernando is a former Partner of KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co., and has extensive experience in financial services. He has functioned as the Group Finance Director of the Confifi Group and Finance Director for the Asia Region at Virtusa (Pvt) Limited. In 2005 he became the Managing Director of Capital Reach Group and was appointed as Director/Chief Executive Officer of Softlogic Finance PLC, following the consolidation of activities of Capital Reach Group under Softlogic Finance PLC.
He holds a BSc in Applied Science from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Director of The Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC and Laugfs Power PLC.
Others: Director of Laugfs Leisure Limited, Laugfs Eco Sri Limited, Reach Asia Leisure Limited, Evoke International Limited and Lanka Hospitals Diagnostics (Pvt) Limited.
Skills and experience
Ms Senaratne has over 40 years of professional experience and is well versed in the fields of litigation, commercial law, conveyancing, and company secretarial practices. She held the position of Company Secretary at Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation PLC from May 2003 to 2009 and has served as a Legal Officer at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
She is an Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public, Commissioner of Oaths, and a Solicitor of England and Wales.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Alternate Director of Melstacorp PLC and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC and functions as the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC.
Others: Director of Paradise Resort Pasikudah (Pvt) Limited and Amethyst Leisure Limited and the Company Secretary of Periceyl (Pvt) Limited.
Skills and experience
Ms Fernando started her career at Kreston MNS & Co, a correspondent firm of Grant Thornton International – Sri Lanka Division, a firm of Chartered Accountants and counts over 20 years of professional and commercial experience in the fields of auditing, finance, and management.
She is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director of R I L Property PLC and a Director of United Motors Lanka PLC and Panasian Power PLC
Others: Director of UML Heavy Equipment Limited, Unimo Enterprises Limited, Finergreen Rajarata (Pvt) Limited, Padiyapelella Hydropower Limited, Powergen One (Pvt) Limited, and Rajarata Sustainable Development (Pvt) Limited.
Skills and experience
Mr Nemmawatta has held several executive positions in the public sector. He has served as Secretary, State Ministry of Defence, Director General – Department of Public Enterprise, Ministry of Finance, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways and the Ministry of Environment. He has also served as Director of Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority, Sri Lanka Customs and Department of Trade, Tariff and Investment Policy.
He holds a BCom (Sp.) from the University of Colombo, a Postgraduate Diploma in Devolution and Local Government Studies from the University of Colombo and an MSc in Management from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also a Licentiate of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
Other current appointments: None.
Skills and experience
Ms Gunawardana has over 35 years of diverse experience. She started her career at Julius & Creasy and proceeded to the Legal Division, Central Bank of Sri Lanka. She has held several senior public service positions including Legal Advisor – Department of Fiscal Policy and Economic Affairs, Senior Assistant Secretary (Legal) – Ministry of Finance, and Director General – Legal Affairs Department of the General Treasury. As Project Director, she led the Fiscal Reforms Project and the Fiscal Management Reform Programme of the ADB/Ministry of Finance, and the Legal and Judicial Reforms Project of the World Bank/Ministry of Justice. She has previously served as a Director of Renuka City Hotels PLC and Information & Technology Agency of Sri Lanka and as the Government Nominee Director of DFCC Bank PLC. She has had extensive foreign training including programmes at HIID/Harvard University (USA), Amsterdam Institute of Finance, LKY School of Public Policy (Singapore), Commonwealth Secretariat (London), and the World Bank (Washington D.C.).
She is an Attorney-at-Law and holds a Master’s Degree in Commercial Law from the United Kingdom.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: She is a Director of Haycarb PLC
Others: Joint Managing Partner of Capital City Law – Colombo, Group Legal Consultant – International Distilleries Lanka Limited and Consultant, CHEC Port City (Colombo) (Pvt) Limited. Also, a member of the Company Law Advisory Commission of Sri Lanka and a member of the Executive Committee of Sri Sathya Sai Karuna Nilayam Foundation.
Skills and experience
Mr Wijeyeratne counts over 29 years of experience in the fields of general management, financial management and auditing which has been acquired while being employed at Investcorp Bank, Bahrain, Grindlays Bahrain Bank, Ernst & Young, Bahrain and Ernst & Young, Sri Lanka. In addition, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (Pvt) Limited (SLINTEC) for over five years (2013 to 2019) and a consultant for ZONE 24x7 an IT company involved in data analytics and machine learning (2019 to 2020). He was an Independent Director of Union Assurance PLC and was also the Chairman of the Board Audit and Compliance Committee and retired after completing 9 years in September 2020. He is an Associate member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Director of Trans Asia Hotels PLC and Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Others: Audit Committee Chairman of MAS Holdings and is also a member of the Gamini Corea Trust, a Trustee of the SLINTEC Endowment Trust Fund and remains the Founder/Owner of Avastha Financial Advisory Services and the Co-Founder of Kalyana, a mental health advocacy group.
Skills and experience
Mr Vasantha Kumar counts over 40 years of experience in banking having been with ANZ Grindlays Bank for over 22 years and thereafter at People’s Bank for over 18 years. During his period of service at People’s Bank, he has served as the Chief Executive Officer/General Manager of People’s Bank for a period of 8 years.
He has previously served as a Director of People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, People’s Insurance PLC, People’s Merchant Finance PLC, People’s Travels Ltd., Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd., and the Credit Information Bureau of Sri Lanka. He was a past president of Sri Lanka FOREX Association and the Association of Primary Dealers. He was also a member of the governing board of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.
He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wales, UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Director of Ceylinco Insurance PLC and Senkadagala Finance PLC.
Others: Director of Asset Trust Management (Pvt) Limited and Safe Holdings (Pvt) Limited.
Skills and experience
Ms Thambiayah has worked as an Executive at Keells Hotel Management and John Keells Holdings – New Business Development and Group Initiatives for two and a half years. She commenced work at Hotel Renuka and Renuka City Hotel in 2008 and is currently the Jt. Managing Director of both Renuka Hotels PLC and Renuka City Hotels PLC.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Management Studies from the University of Nottingham, UK, and a Master of Science in International Business and Management from Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Joint Managing Director of Renuka City Hotels PLC and Renuka Hotels PLC and a Director of Cargo Boat Development Company PLC.
Others: Director of Renuka Consultants and Services Limited, Renuka Properties Limited, Lancaster Holdings Limited, Amalgamated Theaters (Pvt) Limited and Portfolio Management Services (Pvt) Limited.
Skills and experience
Ms Withana joined the Bank in April 1990 and has functioned as the Chief Financial Officer, Head of Operations, Head of Credit Administration and Head of Accounting and Reporting. She is a former partner of a firm of Chartered Accountants and was a Director of DFCC Vardhana Bank PLC from August 2003 to July 2012.
She holds an MBA from the University of Colombo, a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK.
Other current appointments:
Listed companies: Also functions as the Company Secretary of DFCC Bank PLC.
Others: None.