Lakshman Abeysekera appointed as new Chairman of SDB bank

The Board of Directors of SANASA Development Bank (SDB) PLC announced the appointment of senior chartered accountant Lakshman Abeysekera as the new chairman of the bank. 

Abeysekera takes over from Samadanie Kiriwandeniya, who has retired after completing a nine-year tenure as chairperson.

Abeysekera, who served as a senior director, and the head of the board audit committee, is a cross-disciplinary expert who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role as chairman. 

He contributed significantly to SDB’s transformation from a microfinance and retail-oriented establishment to an SME focused bank.  

Trained at KPMG early in his career, Abeysekera has held several key positions in some of the country’s leading business organisations, gaining in-depth knowledge and experience in the areas of accounting, finance, and management across different industries.  Some positions he has held during an almost three-decade career include Chief Financial Officer at Emerchemie NB (Ceylon) Ltd., Senior Accountant at Lankem Ceylon PLC, and Accountant at Hoechst (Ceylon) Ltd. 

He sits on several boards including being a non-executive director of People’s Insurance PLC, a director of JanRich Foods Ltd. and NovEx Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 

Abeysekera holds an MBA from the Institute of Postgraduate Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He is also a Fellow of The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT Sri Lanka) and served as a member of its governing council for several years. 

Founded in 1997, with capital mobilised by the Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies under the leadership of Dr. P.A. Kiriwandeniya, SDB bank is a unique establishment. 

The vision of the founder, who was an expert in international development trends and a spokesperson for Sri Lankan Society, was to establish an alternative financial model that is more inclusive and would support the growth of a vibrant cooperative sector. 

The new chairman, who served on the board sub-committee on cooperative development, says he looks forward to building on the firm foundation laid by the founder and his predecessor in steering SDB bank to further success and to achieving its goal of becoming the bank that ‘leads the nation’.