Trade Finance Association of Bankers holds its 26th AGM for year 2023/2024

From Left (Seated): Sampath Bank Plc Assistant Treasurer Tharinda Amarasinghe , Nations Trust Bank PLC Assistant Secretary Kasun Muthukuda, DFCC Bank PLC Vice President K. R. Naguleswaran,Bank of Ceylon President Rochelle Fernando, Hatton National Bank PLC Senior Vice President Shyam De Silva, Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC Secretary General  Indika Liyanage, Union Bank of Colombo PLC Treasurer Kanchana De Silva, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Immediate Past President Lawrian Somanader

From Left (Standing): Public Bank Mahesha Hassan, National Development Bank Plc Melani Navaratne , Bank of Ceylon K. K. Susantha, Deutsche Bank AG Niranjan Dabare, Citibank N.A. Harsha Silva, Amana Bank PLC Lakshana Fernando, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited Shaariz Zabith, State Bank of India Ramesh Amarasinghe, Seylan Bank PLC Dilan Wijegoonawardena, People's Bank Susantha Weerasinghe, Cargills Bank Limited Shanaka Weimen, Standard Chartered Bank Shehani Peter, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Kumari Bastiansz

The Trade Finance Association of Bankers (TFAB) held its 26th Annual General Meeting on the 23 February, 2023 at the Lotus Room, Grand Oriental Hotel, Colombo. 

Trade Finance Association of Bankers, which was formed in the year 1997, has been actively engaged in imparting knowledge and the required skills to its members who are Trade Practitioners by conducting seminars, lectures, discussions, workshops, trade educational tours, publishing newsletters etc., on a wide range of topics relating to International Trade. These activities were undertaken with the assistance of Senior bankers who have mastered the subject and other resource persons from various trade related stakeholders. The premium event of TFAB is the Interbank Trade Finance Quiz and Social which promotes trade knowledge and networking among its members. 

TFAB provides an environment for Trade Practitioners representing all banks to facilitate the exchange of views relating to trade, promote consistency in Trade Finance practices and to create the required skill set in the industry in supporting Trade. The Membership comprises of twenty-two Commercial and Specialised banks operating in Sri Lanka. The office-bearers of the Association from various banks are elected every year at its Annual General Meeting. It is heartening to see prominent veterans in the field of Trade Finance, sharing their knowledge and experience with new trade practitioners, in all banks. The Association is backed by an Advisory Committee comprising of four senior bankers  who were former  Presidents of TFAB A. TFAB Inaugural President and International of Bank of Ceylon Former DGM Kathiravelupillai , Trade of Union Bank  Colombo PLC Former Head Michael Peiris , Trade Services of Hatton National Bank PLC  Former AGM Nilam Jumat, and Head Global Subsidiary Coverage Former Director  Deutsche Bank Head of Trade and Cash Management Sales Thushy David, all having extensive experience in the International Banking business. 

Bank of Ceylon Deputy General Manager Rochelle Fernando was unanimously elected as the President of the Association for the year 2023 / 2024. Rochelle Fernando‘s installation was significant as she was the first  female president to be elected as the President of Trade Finance Association of Bankers. She is a professional banker with over 25 years of experience at Bank of Ceylon as she has worked in Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Offshore Banking and Trade Finance, with predominant exposure in both export and import segments.

She is a graduate of the University of Colombo, with a degree in Business Administration specialising in Financial Management, an Associate Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and has also successfully completed the Management Development Programme for Key Management Personnel conducted by the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayawardenepura.

She is currently engaged in the implementation of New Trade Finance Software Solution as the Program Manager, Bank of Ceylon. The implementation covers Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Chennai. The system is already live in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Apart from her official career, she has rendered her service and expertise as a Resource Person for the Certificate and Advance Certificate Courses on International Trade conducted by Export Development Board from 2018 to date. She was also the Senior Vice President of Trade Finance Association of Bankers for the year 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 and she is a life member of the Association of Professional Bankers. 

The following members were elected as office-bearers of the Trade Finance Association of Bankers for the year 2023/2024 during the Annual General Meeting.

nPresident - Bank of Ceylon Deputy General Manager Rochelle Fernando

nSenior Vice President - Hatton National Bank PLC  Senior Manager Operations Central Trade Processing Shyam De Silva

nVice President - Correspondent Banking and Remittances DFCC Bank PLC Assistant Vice President K.R. Naguleswaran

nSecretary General -Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC  Senior Manager Trade Services Indika Liyanage

nTreasurer -   Union Bank of Colombo PLC Senior Manager  Trade Operations Kanchana De Silva  

nAssistant Secretary - Nations Trust Bank PLC Manager Imports Kasun Muthukuda

nAssistant Treasurer -Sampath Bank PLC Senior Executive Trade Services Tharinda Amarasinghe

nCouncil Members: 

Niranjan Dabare - Deutsche Bank AG, Shaariz Zabith –  Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, K K Susantha – Bank of Ceylon, Susantha Weerasinghe - People’s Bank, Dilan Wijegoonawardena - Seylan Bank PLC, Shehani Peter – Standard Chartered Bank, Harsha Silva - Citibank N.A., Mahesha Hassan - Public Bank, Kumari Bastiansz – Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Lakshana Fernando – Amana Bank PLC, Shanaka Weimen – Cargills Bank Limited, Melani Navaratne – National Development Bank PLC, Ramesh Amarasinghe – State Bank of India

nImmediate Past President: Bank of Ceylon PLC  Chief Manager Exports Commercial  Lawrian Somanader

The newly elected President in her speech, thanked all the participants for their commitment, passion and support towards the activities of the association, outgoing President of TFAB, Lawrian Somanader and the office bearers in their efforts  in building TFAB into a Professional Association. She emphasised that under her leadership, she will continue to push the core objectives of the Association such as facilitating the exchange of views on Trade Finance, promoting consistency in Trade Finance Practices, engaging in educational activities for membership, publishing periodic Newsletters, coordination with Regulatory Authorities and enhancement of goodwill and fellowship among its membership. She concluded her speech with a quote from Michelle Obama, “People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together”.