SDB bank appoints Dinithi Ratnayake to its Board

The Board of Directors of SDB bank recently appointed financial institutions expert Dinithi Ratnayake as a Director of the bank. Her extensive banking and finance experience is set to further diversify and strengthen the bank’s formidable Board.

Her in-depth knowledge across several critical areas of banking, including credit, transactional banking, debt capital markets, advisory and global risk and compliance practices, places her favourably in affording the Board further directional strength in line with SDB bank’s emergence as a leader in specialised banking. 

With over 24 years of experience as a senior banking professional, a significant part of Ratnayake’s career was with Citibank N.A. as Director, Head of Financial Institutions Group in Sri Lanka. Her previous banking experience includes roles in Retail and Institutional Banking at ANZ Grindlays Bank PLC. 

Ratnayake brings great value to the board through her varied professional engagements, in her role as the Co-Founder/Director of IDEAology Strategy Consulting Ltd., a firm focussed on providing advisory and strategic and tactical support to Financial Institutions and Public Sector Entities in Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

Her involvement also extends to the area of social development work, especially in her role as a Governing Council member of South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka, an NGO engaged in grassroot development through building empowered communities to realise sustainable growth.

Ratnayake possesses a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Houston, Clear Lake and a Master of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Colombo.

She is the representative Director of FMO (The Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank) and SBI Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund Pte. Ltd., a key investor and a major shareholder of SDB PLC.

Her significant credentials, including close alliances with banks, non-banking financial institutions and regulators, positions Ratnayake strongly to leverage her expertise and considerable experience, as SDB bank forges ahead. 

SDB bank is a licensed specialised bank regulated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, with a listing on the Main Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange and a Fitch Rating of BB + (Stable). Through its network of 94 branches and over 5,000 ATM points islandwide, the bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services to its Retail, SME, Co-operative and Business banking clients across the country. 

The bank’s diverse efforts across segments led to SDB bank receiving three separate awards at the Asian Banking & Finance Awards 2019 for Financial Inclusion Initiative of the Year, Advertising Campaign of the Year for it its grassroot level doorstep investment plan, as well as Rural/Cooperative Bank of the Year.