Legal luminary Palitha Kumarasinghe appointed to Commercial Bank Board

President’s Counsel Palitha Kumarasinghe has been appointed to the Board of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (the Bank) as an Independent/Non-Executive Director with effect from 12 April.

Kumarasinghe is a Senior President’s Counsel specialised in civil and commercial matters with a lucrative practice. Kumarasinghe enrolled as an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on 27 September 1982, was appointed as a President’s Counsel by the President with effect from 7 July 2006.

Kumarasinghe is in active practice in the District Court of Colombo, Commercial High Court, Civil Appellate High Court of Colombo and the Superior Courts. He is the Counsel for several State and private banks and finance houses. He has very wide experience in debt recovery matters and is a regular speaker in banking and debt recovery law sessions and many other corporate law matters in national law conferences, junior national law conferences, and continuing legal education programs conducted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Association of Corporate Lawyers, Sri Lanka and the Colombo Law Society.

Kumarasinghe was a Vice President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (2003-2005) and the President of the Colombo Law Society in 2003-05. He has been a member of the Bar Council of Sri Lanka for the past 35 years and presently he is a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.

He was a member of the Advisory Commission on Intellectual Property established under the Code of Intellectual Property Act and the Intellectual Property Act. He was also a member of the Working Committee to solve Problems of Laws’ Delays appointed by the Justice and Judicial Reforms Minister (2009 - 2014) and the Environmental Council Chairman established under the National Environment Act.

From June 2010 to 2013, he was a member of the Incorporated Council of Legal Education, controlling body of Sri Lanka Law from August 2010 to February 2015, a member of the Committee appointed by the Sports Minister to Draft Sports Regulations - 2015, a member of the Sports Developments Advisory Committee - 2015 appointed by the Sports Minister, the Chairman of the Media License Reform Law Committee appointed by the Media Minister 2020/21, the Chairman of the Committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers and the Public Service Commission to study the existing Medical Service Minute and propose solutions to the problems existing in the Medical Administration Grade, in February 2022.

Kumarasinghe is presently the Chairman of the Rent Law Reforms Committee, Ministry of Justice from 2021, the Chairman of the Banking and Finance Law Reform Committee, Ministry of Justice from December 2021 and the Co-Chair of the Apartment Ownership Law Reform Committee, Ministry of Justice, appointed by the Minister of Justice from March 2022.

He is also the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Legal Studies of the University Grants Commission from March 2020.

Kumarasinghe served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Laugfs Gas PLC from 2012 -2017 and Nawaloka Hospitals PLC from March 2016 to June 2022.

He was a member of the Public Service Commission of Sri Lanka from 10 April 2006 to 9 April 2009 (first term) and from 13 May 2011 to 12 May 2014 (second term). He is presently a Member of the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka from February 2020 and a Member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka from 2020.