Board of Directors
(1) Sunil G Wijesinha
Director/Chairman
Mr Wijesinha is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Management Accountant FCMA (UK) and has an MBA. His experience in the financial services sector includes having been on the Boards of Sampath Bank PLC (as Deputy Chairman), Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC (as Managing Director), Employees’ Trust Fund Board (as Chairman), Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka (as Chairman), Lanka Securities (Pvt) Ltd, DNH Financial (Pvt) Ltd, DFCC Vardhana Bank PLC, Colombo Stock Exchange, and Siyapatha Finance Ltd.
A former Chairman and MD of Dankotuwa Porcelain PLC, he has held Directorships in many other government and private sector organisations including Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd, MILCO, Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, State Plantations Corporation, National Institute of Plantation Management, Maturata Plantations Ltd., and Asiri Surgical Hospitals PLC.
He is currently Managing Director of BizEx Consulting (Pvt) Ltd., Chairman, Watawala Plantations PLC, Chairman, United Motors PLC, Chairman, Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, President, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. He serves as a member of the National Labour Advisory Council.
Mr Wijesinha was appointed as a Director on 4 October 2013.
(2) Ashok Pathirage
Director/Deputy Chairman
Mr Pathirage is the co-founder of Softlogic Group and was appointed as the Chairman in 2000 after serving as the Managing Director since inception. He was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of National Development Bank PLC in 2011. He is also the Chairman/Managing Director of the Asiri hospital chain including other listed entities of the Group such as Softlogic Capital PLC, Softlogic Finance PLC, Asian Alliance Insurance PLC amongst many other Group Companies operating in Leisure & Restaurants, Retail, Automobile and ICT industries. Due to his business acumen and corporate leadership he is recognised as one of the foremost business figures in the country.
Mr Pathirage has served the Bank for over 2 years as a Director.
(3) Rajendra Theagarajah
Director/Chief Executive Officer
Mr Theagarajah joined the Group from one of the largest private sector banks in Sri Lanka where he was the CEO for the last nine years. Prior to being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer at the said bank, Mr Theagarajah had been a member of the Corporate Management Team of that bank for nearly eight years.
Mr Theagarajah counts over 29 years of experience in banking, including overseas experience. He had been with Chase Manhattan Bank (now known as JP Morgan Chase) in London and had served in the European, Middle Eastern and African regions.
Mr Theagarajah is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) of Sri Lanka and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), United Kingdom. He is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and also holds a MBA from the Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom.
His contribution and expertise has also been extended through many professional bodies. He was a past Chairman of Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (Guarantee) Ltd., Chairman of Asian Banks Association and a former Director of the Colombo Stock Exchange. He was the first Sri Lankan to assume Chairmanship of the Asian Banks’ Association from 1 November 2010 for a two-year tenure.
He is also a member of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board, Deputy Vice Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (U.K.) Sri Lanka Governing Board, and member of the Sri Lanka Auditing Quality Assurance Board. He is also Sri Lanka’s representative in the CIMA UK’s Global Council. He is also an independent Non-Executive Director of Carson Cumberbatch PLC and several companies in the NDB Group.
Mr Theagarajah was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer/Director on 24 August 2013.
(4) Trevine Jayasekara
Director
Mr Jayasekara is the Group Finance Director of Brandix Lanka Ltd. and is responsible for the overall finance function of the Group, as well as its related support functions. Mr Jayasekara brings with him a wealth of experience in international banking and finance, having worked at Arab Bank Ltd. in Bahrain, Deutsche Bank, Colombo and Aitken Spence & Co. He is a fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He is a Non-Executive Director of John Keells Hotels PLC.
Mr Jayasekara has served the Bank for over 3 years as a Director.
(5) Sarath Wikramanayake
Director
Mr Wikramanayake is a Chartered Accountant. He has worked previously with the Bank of Butterfield, a Bermuda-based international bank for 19 years, where he reached the position of Executive Vice-President. Since returning to Sri Lanka, he has been the Chief Executive Officer of Union Assurance Ltd. and the President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka in 2002. He is currently engaged in providing consultancy services to the Financial Services and ICT Industries. In addition to his role as a Director of National Development Bank PLC Mr Wikramanayake is also a Director to several other companies including, NDB Capital Holdings PLC, Orient Finance PLC, NDB Investment Bank Ltd. and NDB Wealth Management Ltd.
Mr Wikramanayake has served the Bank for over 3 years as a Director.
(6) Kimarli Fernando
Director
Mrs Fernando is an Attorney-at-Law, and also a Barrister-at-Law, Lincoln’s Inn, UK. She holds LL.B. (Hons.), from London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK and successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate Course in Human Resources Management at the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), Sri Lanka.
Counting over 24 years of experience in the Banking Industry in Sri Lanka and Germany, Mrs Fernando was seconded to Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt and thereafter worked at Standard Chartered Bank. She joined Pan Asia Bank as a Director in March 2008 and functioned as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank until 2009 when she was also Director of Lanka Clear (Pvt) Ltd., Director and management Committee member of Waters Edge and member, Sri Lanka Bankers’ Association. Currently, whilst serving as a Director of National Development Bank PLC, she also serves as a Director of L B Finance PLC, Valibel One PLC and Lewis Brown & Co. (Pvt) Ltd.
Mrs. Fernando has served the Bank for over 3 years as a Director.
(7) Anura Siriwardena
Director
Mr Siriwardena holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Kelaniya and an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He is a member of numerous professional bodies, including the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, the Sri Lanka Institute of Biology and the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Mr Siriwardena was the past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Television Network Ltd., Secretary to the Ministry of Co-operatives and Internal Trade and Secretary to the Ministry of Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development. He currently functions as the Secretary – Industry and Commerce of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Government of Sri Lanka. Mr Siriwardena is a Platinum Honour Awardee of the Postgraduate Institute of Management Alumni Association for his outstanding performance in the field of Management.
Mr Siriwardena has served the Bank for over 3 years as a director.
(8) G D Chandra Ekanayake
Director
Ms Ekanayake is the nominee of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. She has been a Member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service since 1984. Presently, she is the Director General of the Department of National Budget of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. Previously, she has held several senior managerial positions in the Treasury as Director – Economic Affairs, Controller of Insurance, Additional Director General – Department of External Resources and Director General – Department of Trade, Tariff and Investment Policy over a span of about 25 years of her service. Ms Ekanayake holds a Science Special Degree from the University of Kelaniya, an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), Sri Lanka and Postgraduate Diploma in the fields of Development Planning Techniques (ISS, The Hague), International Relations (BCIS, Colombo) and Economic Development (Univ. of Colombo).
Ms Ekanayake has served the Bank for over 2 years as a Director.
(9) Sujeewa Rajapakse
Director
Mr Rajapakse is the Managing Partner of BDO Partners, a firm of Chartered Accountants and counts over 30 years of experience with the firm. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Mr Rajapakse is the immediate past President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL). He is currently serving as a Non-Executive Independent Director at Asian Alliance PLC, Haycarb PLC and Dipped Products PLC and the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAASMB) as an ex-officio nominated by ICASL. He is also serving as a Committee Member of the Monetary Policy Consultative Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lank and also a member of the National Pay Commission.
He has held numerous honorary positions over the years and has functioned as a Board Member of First Capital Group and the Treasurer of Sri Lanka Cricket.
Mr Rajapakse has served the Bank for over 2 years as a Director.
(10) Indrani Sugathadasa
Director
Mrs Sugathadasa is a senior public servant who joined the Sri Lanka Administrative Service in 1977 and reached up to the highest level in the administrative hierarchy.
Among other senior positions she held, she served as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs and Ministry of Plantation Industries. After retiring from mainstream public service, she was appointed as Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL). Currently, she is serving only as the Chairperson of the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka.
Mrs Sugathadasa, a product of Musaeus College, Colombo holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree from the University of Colombo and Masters Degree (MPA/MBA) from Monash University, Australia.
She also has been awarded the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship (Fulbright) by the United States Government in 1990 and was attached to Hunter College, City University of New York during the one-year Fellowship period.
She has won several prizes and awards for her skills in different areas including a Gold Medal from an all island oratorical competition.
In addition, Mrs Sugathadasa has participated in various conferences and consultancies both locally and internationally.
Mrs Sugathadasa was appointed as a Director on 4 October 2013.
(11) Hemaka Amarasuriya*
Chairman (retired w.e.f. 30 November 2013)
Mr Amarasuriya brought to the Bank an impressive range of management, industrial, marketing and business skills from his tenure as Chairman of the industrial and retailing conglomerate Singer Group, and his experience on the Boards of such companies as Regnis Lanka and Bata Shoe Company of Ceylon. He also brought with him substantial experience in international management as a former Senior Vice-President of Singer Asia Ltd. and Retail Holdings Ltd., USA and a chairman of the Singer Worldwide Business Council. As a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Marketer he used his wide experience in the Business world to add value to whatever institution he served. He retired from the Boards of the Bank and NDB Capital Ltd., Bangladesh on 30 November 2013 after a long and illustrious career.
* Not in picture
(12) Russell de Mel*
Director/Chief Executive Officer (retired w.e.f. 23 August 2013)
Mr de Mel, having been with the Bank for over 30 years, retired as the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer in August 2013. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served as Vice President - Head of the Corporate Banking Group and as Vice President - Head of Group Risk Management.
He was also a director on several Boards of the NDB Group companies until his retirement from the Bank.
Mr de Mel is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK (FCMA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (FCMA), Sri Lanka.
* Not in picture
(13) Shehani Ranasinghe
Assistant Vice-President
Secretary to the Board
Ms Ranasinghe holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Degree from the University of Colombo and is an Attorney-at-Law who counts over twenty years experience at the Bank. She was appointed as the Secretary to the Board in April 2012. She apprenticed at Messrs F J & G De Saram, Attorneys-at-Law prior to joining the Bank.
