Director Board

Thimal Perera is the deputy CEO of DFCC Bank PLC and has more than two decades of experience in the financial services and banking sector, both locally and internationally.Perera was most recently the Deputy General Manager of Hatton National Bank where he guided the retail and SME banking sector. He has also worked previously with HSBC both locally and internationally, the Commercial Bank of Qatar and Barclays Bank PLC in the United Arab Emirates.

During his tenure at HSBC, he was the Regional Head of Cards and Digital Channels overlooking the Middle East and North Africa Region and was the Director of Retail Products and Business Banking for Barclays Bank Plc in the UAE.

While at HNB he also served as a board member of HNB Assurance PLC, HNB General Insurance Ltd and HNB Grameen Ltd. Thimal Perera is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK.

Ray Abeywardena is the Managing Director of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd. He has been associated with the Sri Lanka’s capital markets for over 30 years, primarily as a Stockbroker and since 2009 as an Investment Banker. Prior to being appointed as Managing Director/CEO of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd he served as the Managing Director/CEO of Acuity Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd from 2001 to end 2008. Mr. Abeywardena is the Chairman of Acuity Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd, Acuity Securities Ltd, the Colombo Stock Exchange and the Central Depository Systems Ltd. He is the Chairman of Guardian Acuity Asset Management Ltd, Lanka Ventures PLC, Lanka Energy Fund Ltd, Softlogic Insurance PLC & ANCL.

Mr. Abeywardena is a past Chairman of the Colombo Stockbrokers Association, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wales.

Rajive Dissanayake is the Chief Financial Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC.

He counts for over 15 years of experience in banking and capital markets. His exposure covers relationship management, project finance, capital markets research, financial analysis, economic analysis, investments, budgeting, investor relations, asset & liability management and strategic planning.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colombo. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), Chartered Global Management Accountant and a CFA® Charter holder.

Damith Pallewatte is the Deputy General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group of Hatton National Bank PLC.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Management from the London School of Economics. He is also a qualified Financial Risk Manager of the Global Association of Risk Professionals as well as holding the ACI qualification.

Sanjay is the Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME at Hatton National Bank PLC and manages the areas of Personal Financial Services (Leasing, Pawning, Personal and Housing Loans), Credit Cards, Sales & Business Development, Digital Banking, Network Management, Deposit Mobilization, Marketing Communications, Customer Service, Club & Priority Banking, Inward Remittances & Exchange House Relationships and Bank Assurance. He has a B.Sc in Business & Finance from Mount Saint Mary’s University, USA. He also serves as a Director of HNB General Insurance Ltd.

He commenced his career with Ceylinco Securities & Financial Services and then joined HNB as a Management Trainee/Executive. Thereafter, he joined HSBC where he held different positions such as Vice President – Custody & Clearing, Head of Sales, Head of Branches including Premier Banking, Branch Manager – Kollupitiya Branch/Manager Premier Centre.

Sanjaya thereafter joined Standard Chartered Bank and held positions of Head of Retail Banking, General Manager –Premium Banking Branch Sales & Services and General Manager – Value Centre.

Mr. Lalith Withana has held management positions in the corporate sector for over 25 years, during which he had held senior management positions in Banking, Manufacturing & Trading for more than 25 years. He has worked with many organizations such as Brandix Group, Ernst & Young, Amsterdam Rotterdam (Amro) Bank, IBM World Trade, Corporation & Carson Cumberbatch, Ceylon Tea Services Limited and Yamaha Corporation in (USA). Mr. Withana served as the Group Chief Finance and Administrative Officer for Sri Lankan Airline and later as the Chief executive office in its subsidiary SriLankan Catering till very recently.

He is currently serving as the founder and the managing director of Agility consulting services (Pvt) Ltd and as a Board Director of Laugfs Gas PLC., Laugfs Maritime Services (Pvt.) Ltd., Softlogic Life insurance PLC and HNB Finance PLC.

He had previously served as an independent director on the Boards of Bank of Ceylon, Dankotuwa Porcelain PLC, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC, Ceylease Limited and Seylan Bank. Mr. Withana had also been a Commissioner of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Withana holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Hons. Degree from the University of Manchester Metropolitan, UK. He is a fellow member of the both Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA), UK, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (FCA). He is also a Project Management Professional of the Project Management Institute (PMI), USA.

He serves currently as a Vice president of the Project management Institute local chapter and as an executive committee member of the National Olympics committee.

Sanjaya is the Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME at Hatton National Bank PLC and manages the areas of Personal Financial Services (Leasing, Pawning, Personal and Housing Loans), Credit Cards, Sales & Business Development, Digital Banking, Network Management, Deposit Mobilization, Marketing Communications, Customer Service, Club & Priority Banking, Inward Remittances & Exchange House Relationships and Bank Assurance. He has a B.Sc in Business & Finance from Mount Saint Mary’s University, USA. He also serves as a Director of HNB General Insurance Ltd.

He commenced his career with Ceylinco Securities & Financial Services and then joined HNB as a Management Trainee/Executive. Thereafter, he joined HSBC where he held different positions such as Vice President – Custody & Clearing, Head of Sales, Head of Branches including Premier Banking, Branch Manager – Kollupitiya Branch/Manager Premier Centre.

Sanjaya thereafter joined Standard Chartered Bank and held positions of Head of Retail Banking, General Manager –Premium Banking Branch Sales & Services and General Manager – Value Centre.

Sanjaya is the Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME at Hatton National Bank PLC and manages the areas of Personal Financial Services (Leasing, Pawning, Personal and Housing Loans), Credit Cards, Sales & Business Development, Digital Banking, Network Management, Deposit Mobilization, Marketing Communications, Customer Service, Club & Priority Banking, Inward Remittances & Exchange House Relationships and Bank Assurance. He has a B.Sc in Business & Finance from Mount Saint Mary’s University, USA. He also serves as a Director of HNB General Insurance Ltd.

He commenced his career with Ceylinco Securities & Financial Services and then joined HNB as a Management Trainee/Executive. Thereafter, he joined HSBC where he held different positions such as Vice President – Custody & Clearing, Head of Sales, Head of Branches including Premier Banking, Branch Manager – Kollupitiya Branch/Manager Premier Centre.

Sanjaya thereafter joined Standard Chartered Bank and held positions of Head of Retail Banking, General Manager –Premium Banking Branch Sales & Services and General Manager – Value Centre.

Sachith Perera is an Independent Non Executive Director of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd

Previously He was with HSBC for a total of 26 years, 12 of which in the capacity of the Treasurer and Head of Global Markets for HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives. In this role he was responsible for the bank’s forex and rates management, derivatives trading, balance sheet management and custodial services for foreign investors in local equities.
He held positions as committee member in main management committees namely, Asset and Liability, Operations, IT steering and Investment. Participated in Board sub committees namely, Board Audit and Board Risk Management. Functioned as a Trustee in approved Provident Funds of two local Commercial Banks. Served as a Director in the Board of a property management company with total assets of LKR 10.4 billion.

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