BOARD OF 

DIRECTORS

Left to right

Mr R M Priyantha Rathnayake

 

Non-Independent Non-Executive Ex-officio

 

Director

Major General (Rtd.) G A Chandrasiri VSV

 

Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr Ronald C Perera PC

 

Chairman/ Independent Non-Executive 
Director

Mr Naresh Abeyesekera

 

Independent Non-Executive Director

Prof. Kithsiri M Liyanage 

Independent Non-Executive Director

Ms Janaki Senanayake Siriwardane

 

Secretary, Bank of Ceylon/ 
Secretary to the Board

(As at 31

 

December 2023)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MR RONALD C PERERA PC

Chairman (Outgoing) 

(Independent Non-Executive Director)

Date of Appointment:
20 January 2023  
Resigned on 13 March 2024

President’s Counsel with extensive experience in the original 
courts as well as in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of 
Sri Lanka.

Expertise in civil and criminal litigation, negotiations and 

drafting contracts and agreements.

Specialises in Commercial Law, Banking Law, Industrial Law, 

Injunctions, Defamation, Election Petitions, Civil Appeals, 
Revision Applications, Writ Applications and Fundamental 
Rights Cases. He has also appeared in several Commercial 
Arbitrations.

Holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of 

Colombo and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Trade 
Law from Northumbria University, United Kingdom.

Chairman and Director of Bank of Ceylon from  
January 2015 to November 2019.

Chairman of Bank of Ceylon (UK) Limited.

Chairman of Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance PLC.

Director of Mireka Capital Land (Private) Limited and Mireka 

Homes (Private) Limited.

Acting Chairman of National Lotteries Board.

Non-Executive Chairman of;
Hotels Colombo (1963) Limited (up to 13 March 2024).
Property Development Limited (up to 13 March 2024).
Bank of Ceylon (UK) Limited (up to 13 March 2024).
Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Limited.

MR KAVAN RATNAYAKA

Chairman (Incoming) 

(Independent Non-Executive Director)

Date of Appointment:
14 March 2024

Holds a Bachelor of Science (Physics) from the University of 
California, Riverside Campus.

Possesses over three decades of experience across the 

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field.

Wealth of experience garnered from leadership positions 

across diverse sectors, including telecommunications, 
tourism, banking and media. 

Expertise in Client Relationship Management, Project 

Management, Partner Management, General Management, 
Leadership and Government Relations.

Chairman of National Development Bank PLC (NDB).

Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Chairman and Managing Director of Associated Newspapers 

of Ceylon Limited.

Chief Executive Officer of Dialog Broadband Networks (DBN).

Group Chief Corporate Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC.

Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Director of Agility Innovations Limited.

Country General Manager of IBM World Trade Corporation.

Non-Executive Director of KBSL Information Technologies 
Limited.

Non-Executive Director of Coding Legends (Private) Limited. 

Non-Executive Director of Terra Tech (Private) Limited.

Trustee of the Jayam Wijeratnam Trust.

Trustee of the Dialog Foundation.

MAJOR GENERAL (RTD.)  

G A CHANDRASIRI VSV

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment:
08 January 2021
Ceased to be a Director on  
07 January 2024

Wide experience and exposure in the public sector having 
held several key leadership positions.

A graduate from the National Defence College, India and 

Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh.

Special recognitions awarded include the Rana Wickram 

Padakkama (RWP), Vishishta Sewa Vibushanaya (VSV) and 
Uththama Sewa Padakkama (USP).

Illustrious military career of 35 years, holding key command 
and staff appointments in the Sri Lanka Army including, Chief 
of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army (2nd in Command of the Army).

Major General Sri Lanka Army. 

Principal Staff Officer at the Joint Operations Command 

Headquarters and Regimental Commander of the  
Sri Lanka Army Special Forces and Sri Lanka Armoured Corps.

Commander of the Security Forces Headquarters-Jaffna.

Military Security Coordinator to HE the President.

Competent Authority for the resettlement of Internally 

Displaced People in the Northern Province in the aftermath 
of war.

Governor of the Northern Province.

Non-Executive Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri 
Lanka) (Private) Limited (Up to 12 December 2023).

MR R M PRIYANTHA 

RATHNAYAKE

Non-Independent Non-Executive 

Ex-officio Director

Date of Appointment:
28 April 2020 and Reappointed on  
29 April 2023

Special Grade Officer in the Sri Lanka Planning Services with 
over 26 years experience.

Extensive experience in multilateral development banking 

which involved mobilising foreign funding for development 
projects including bilateral negotiations, coordination with 
development partners and lending agencies.

Holds a MSc in Agriculture from the Agriculture University 

of Norway and a BSc in Agriculture Economics from the 
University of Peradeniya.

Chairman of National Savings Bank.

Member of the National Medicinal Drug Regulatory 

Authority.

Alternate Executive Director of the Asian Infrastructure 

Investment Bank, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. 

Director of People’s Bank.

Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka.

Director of the Academy of Financial Studies (Guarantee) 

Limited.

Director of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel 

Management.

Member of the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research 

Policy.

Director of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of  

Sri Lanka (SPC).

Director of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka.

Member of the Advisory Board of the Science and 

Technology Policy Research Division of the National Science 
Foundation.

Member of the Sri Lanka Economic Association.

Commission member of Insurance Regulatory Commission of 

Sri Lanka.

Ex-officio Chairman of Local Loan and Development Fund.

Deputy Secretary to the Treasury.

Non-Executive commission Member of the Securities and 

Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka.

Non-Executive Director of Colombo Lotus Tower 

Management Company (Private) Limited.

Non-Executive Director of Asian Infrastructure Investment 

Bank representing the constituency of Cambodia, Indonesia, 
Laos, PDR, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MR NARESH ABEYESEKERA

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment:
04 May 2023

Specialises in Transaction Advisory, Debt and Private Equity 
Structuring and funding with a strong presence in the Gulf 
Cooperation Council (GCC), Europe and Asia.

Recognised as one of the youngest CFOs of USD 

100+million entities.

Received industry leadership award by SLASSCOM for the 

contribution to the IT industry of Sri Lanka.

Was instrumental in conceptualising Colombo Stock 

Exchange Mobile App and digitalising  the Sri Lankan  
Capital Market.

Co-founded the Institute of Internal Auditors Chapter. 

Trained in international taxation and international tax 

strategy in ISDB Malaysia.

Trained in Lean Practices in Toyota Production Plant in Japan.

Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants 

of Sri Lanka and a member of the Chartered Institute of 
Management Accountants (UK).

Holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of 

Management (University of Sri Jayewardenepura).

Global Chief Financial Officer for market services and 
technology of the London Stock Exchange Group.

Commission Member of the Securities and Exchange 

Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC).

Chairman of the SEC-CSE (Colombo Stock Exchange) joint 

Committee on Digitalisation of the CSE and the Capital 
Market.

Chief Executive Officer/ Working Director of SECQUORO.

Non-Executive Director of Footwear Retailers (Private) Limited.

Non-Executive Director of Softlogic Capital PLC.

PROF. KITHSIRI M LIYANAGE

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment:
31 March 2023

Highly-experienced Engineer, with over 25 years of service in 
academia in Sri Lanka, Japan, Finland and the United States.

Involved in several national-level roles with key Government 

Ministries, Departments, and advisory bodies and 
committees.

Holds a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the 

University of Tokyo, a M.Eng from the same university, and a 
BSc.Eng (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from 
the University of Peradeniya.

A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of 

Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL).

Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics 

Engineers, USA (IEEE).

Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies, Economic 
Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs.

Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka 

(PUCSL).

Chairman of the Engineering Service Board.

Member of the National Salaries & Cadre Commission 

(NSCC).

Acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of 

Ruhuna.

Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Sri Lanka Institute 

of Information Technology (SLIIT).

Director of the Information Technology Center and 

Computing Center, Faculty of Engineering, University of 
Peradeniya.

Head of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering 

Department, University of Peradeniya.

Director of MILODA Academy of Financial Studies.

Visiting academic positions at the University of Tokyo, 

University of Washington, Oulu University and Meijo 
University.

Senior Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic 
Engineering, University of Peradeniya.

Non-Executive Independent Director of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC.

MR JAYAMIN PELPOLA

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment:
22 February 2024

15 years of international experience in investment banking, 
asset management and digital finance.

Has structured international investments exceeding  

USD 20 billion.

As a senior consultant, advised US banks and international 

Central Banks on banking sector reforms. This includes 
advising the Board of Directors at Bank of America, DBS, 
Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank on capital adequacy 
decisions, recapitalisations and the application of digital 
innovations in banking.

Investor and entrepreneur in the Financial Technology 

(FinTech) space.

Holds an MBA from the Harvard University (Cambridge, 

Massachusetts).

Obtained charters from Chartered Financial Analyst Institute 

(USA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 
(UK). Became the youngest Chartered Management 
Accountant in the world, at the time.

Holds a postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from CIM (UK).

Director of Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka. Chairman 
of the the Audit Committee at the BOI.

Founder of Moneyworks Technologies (Private) Limited.
Investment Manager and Proprietary Trader at Goldman 

Sachs.

Senior Consultant with Nomura.

  Non-Executive Director of Onterra Group.

Non-Executive Director of Jayaru TP.

MS JANAKI SENANAYAKE 

SIRIWARDANE

Secretary, Bank of Ceylon/ 

Secretary to the Board

Profile is given on page 34

MR JEHAAN ISMAIL

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment:
07 February 2024

Over four decades of extensive experience in commercial 
and investment banking mainly in Asia, countries in the 
Western Hemisphere and the Middle East.

Has coordinated major system related projects and has been 

responsible for the setting up and running of all investment 
banking support functions.

A visiting lecturer (Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka) teaching 

Practice of Banking and Trade Finance.

A training executive for over 02 years.

Holds a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) degree with 

Honours from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK.

Has participated in external management and leadership 

development programmes at INSEAD and Cranfield.

Director/ CEO of M Power Capital Limited.

Director/ CEO of First Capital Holdings PLC.

COO of both HSBC Colombia and HSBC Saudi Arabia.

CEO of SABB Securities (HSBC Group, Saudi Arabia). 

Senior Vice President Corporate Banking HSBC

  Indonesia and Global Relationship Manager, Corporate 

Banking, HSBC Hong Kong.

  Non-Independent Executive Chairman of M Power Capital 

Limited.

 Non-Independent Non-Executive Chairman of M Power Capital 

Securities Limited.

Non-Independent Executive Director of Common Well (Private) 

Limited.

Non-Independent Executive Director of Kapitan (Private) Limited.

Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of Little Gym Lanka 

(Private) Limited.