Rajendra Theagarajah honoured by ABA with title “Chairman Emeritus”

The Asian Banks Association (ABA) at its recent Board Meeting held virtually on 28 October conferred the title of Chairman Emeritus to Rajendra Theagarajah. 

The recognition reflects Theagarajah s continued involvement in the ABA even after 10 years since the tenure of his Chairmanship (2010-12), which underscores his unwavering commitment to the objective of ABA of bringing bankers in Asia together to promote regional cooperation and further advance the interest of the region’s banking sector.

The ABA was formed in 1981 as the Asian Bankers Council and at the outset included banks from Australia, Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Over the next four decades, membership representation further widened to include banks from the Gulf, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Central Europe, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Theagarajah has been involved in the activities of the ABA since 1999 and became a member of its board in 2005 and continued to serve as a Board member and eventually as its Chairman from 2010 to 2012 during his tenure as the Managing Director/CEO of Hatton National Bank PLC.

Theagarajah is an alumni of Price Waterhouse Coopers and a Fellow Member of CA SriLanka as well as CIMA (UK). 

He obtained his MBA from Cranfield School of Management, UK and had a highly successful career in banking both in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. During a 38-year career, Theagarajah spent the last 16 years as CEO of three private sector licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka and had the opportunity of contributing significantly towards policy advocacy issues such as Corporate Governance Framework for Banks, Basel III adoption and fair Value Accounting by Banks, Financial Inclusion and more recently development of Fintec Sand Box framework for Banks.

During his tenure as a bank CEO, Theagarajah also served as SriLanka Banks Association Chairman, Lanka Financial Services Bureau Chairman, Colombo Stock Exchange Director, Lanka Clear Limited and SriLanka Institute of Directors. During his leadership as its CEO, the Hatton National Bank (www.hnb.net) was recognised as the Retail Bank of the Year for Sri Lanka for seven successive years (2007-13), Best Bank in Sri Lanka by the “Banker” in 2006 & 2012. 

He was personally profiled by Wileys publication of “Asia’s 25 Banking CEOs in 2008 (ISBN 9780470823590) and was the recipient of the Qatar Financial Authority (QFC) Outstanding Leadership in Banking –Sri Lanka twice (2007-9 & 2010-12).

Theagarajah has been actively involved in the Board of Sri Lanka’s oldest business chamber the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) for over a decade and served as its Chairman for a two-year tenure (2017-19) and continues to Chair the Steering Committee on Entrepreneur Development. He was nominated by the CCC to represent the institution in developing the Sri Lanka SDG Investor Roadmap which was completed in September.

Having retired from full-time active management since September 2020, Theagarajah continues to contribute towards the business and economic renaissance of Sri Lanka by serving in a diverse pool of Boards. 

Theagarajah also serves as an invited member of the Stakeholder Engagement Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Pathfinder Foundation a leading think tank in Sri Lanka.