Fintrex Finance appoints veteran banker Kapila Ariyaratne as new director

Fintrex Finance Ltd., has announced the appointment of veteran banker Kapila Ariyaratne as its new director.

Ariyaratne has over 38 years of banking experience after having worked for several local as well as international banks. Before joining Fintrex Board he was General Manager/Chief Executive Officer at Seylan Bank since 2011.

Fintrex Chairman Ajit Gunewardene said: “We are happy to welcome a senior banker of the calibre of Kapila Ariyaratne as a member of our Board. We look forward to his valuable input and guidance which we are confident will support the growth agenda of Fintrex Finance.”

Making his entry into banking in 1984 as a Management Trainee at Grindlays Bank PLC, Ariyaratne spent the next 38 years with several local and international banks, including ABN Amro Bank NV, Mashreq Bank PSC, Arab National Bank (Riyadh), People’s Bank and Nations Trust Bank PLC.

While a substantial part of his experience is in corporate banking, he has hands-on experience in international trade finance operations, customer service operations, credit risk management, institutional and correspondent banking as well as SME and microfinance. Being a key member of the team that undertook the restructuring of a key State sector bank in 2001, Ariyaratne is also familiar with the mechanisms of bringing about key changes in large organisations in order to meet the present day challenges and to optimise the opportunities.

Ariyaratne was the Chairman of the Seylan Developments PLC and also served on the Board of Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd. He was the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Banks’ Association, a member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and of the National Payments Council under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

An old boy of Royal College, Colombo, Ariyaratne is a first class honours graduate of the University of Colombo and is also a holder of a Diploma in Business and Financial Administration.