Kenneth ends 3 year stint at LankaPay; Lakshman new Chairman

Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa

Lakshman Silva

Top economist and senior banker, Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa has completed his three year term as Chairman of LankaPay and has been succeeded by another veteran banker Lakshman Silva.

De Zilwa assumed duty as the 5th Chairman of LankaPay on 01 June 2021 after having been appointed by the Central Bank Governor for a tenure of three years.

Under Zilwa’s leadership, LankaPay successfully introduced numerous innovations to the national payments infrastructure advancing the digital payment landscape and contributed to the achievement of LankaPay’s objectives.

Dr. De Zilwa counts for over 20 years of experience in banking, managing investment banking business at a senior managerial level across all verticals. 

A veteran in Business Cycles and Real Economy, Dr. De Zilwa holds a Ph.D., an MA in Economics, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Economics from the University of Colombo. He also holds an MA in Economics for Development from the ISS/Erasmus University, Netherlands, apart from the Postgraduate Diploma in Bank Management and Finance from the Institute of Bankers Sri Lanka.

Incoming Chairman Lakshman Silva is the former CEO/Director of DFCC Bank PLC. He started his professional career at the Department of Inland Revenue of Sri Lanka and joined the DFCC Banking Group in 1987. He was seconded to the service of DFCC Vardhana Bank in 2003 and functioned as Chief Operating Officer until his appointment as CEO/Executive Director in January 2010. He also held the position of Deputy CEO /Director of DFCC Bank PLC from October 2015 and was appointed as CEO /Director in August 2017. Until his retirement in December 2021, he was Chairman of DFCC Consulting Ltd., Lanka Industrial Estates Ltd., and Snapsys Ltd. (subsidiary companies of DFCC Bank PLC) as well as the Chairman of Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd. and Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (Guarantee) Ltd. He also held the position of Chairman of Acuity Partners Ltd., the joint venture company of DFCC Bank PLC. In addition, he was Chairman/Director of Lanka Ventures Ltd., LVL Energy Fund PLC and Director LankaClear Ltd.

Silva was a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), and Board of Management of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.

At present he serves as an Independent Director at Seylan Bank PLC, and HNB Assurance and Independent Director of Finetech Consultancy Ltd, while serving as Chairman and Director of Panasian Power PLC and its subsidiary companies. He also serves as Member of the Stakeholder Engagement Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Silva is a past President of the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka. He holds a BCom (Sp.) from the Kelaniya University and an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the Sri Jayewardenepura University. He is an Associate Member of the Association of Development Financial Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).