Commercial Bank’s Chief Risk Officer honoured with top global award
Friday, 4 October 2013 02:18
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Sanath Manatunge, the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, has been honoured with the prestigious ‘Chief Information Security Officer of the Year’ Award at the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) Global CISO Forum in Atlanta, USA.
The Global CISO Award honours the true visionaries of information security from around the world. It recognises an individual’s outstanding work in the field of information security, professional growth and achievement, and promotes strong, innovative security practices.
Manatunge, who counts over 24 years of banking experience at Commercial Bank, was adjudged the ‘CISO of the Year’ from veteran information security professionals from all parts of the world, and across diverse industry sectors.
This global award recognises his pioneering efforts in introducing a dedicated, independent IT Risk Management Function at Commercial Bank in 2012. The bank was the first local bank to undertake such an initiative, in the absence of a specific CISO role in Sri Lanka. This initiative has contributed greatly in strengthening the information security and operational risk management strategy of the Bank.
Manatunge has held senior positions such as Head of Credit Risk and Chief Manager – Corporate Banking prior to being appointed as Commercial Bank’s Chief Risk Officer. He is also the President of the Association of Banking Sector Risk Professionals – Sri Lanka, membership of which consists of Chief Risk Officers of all commercial banks operating in the country.
The EC-Council’s Global CISO Forum, at which Manatunge received his award, is the biggest CISO event of the year. It aims to bring together the world’s best and brightest CISOs to unite against hackers and to discuss the most pressing information security threats to nations, companies and networks.
The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants is one of the world’s largest certification bodies for information security professionals. It is a globally recognized, member-based professional organisation headquartered in New Mexico, USA and has certified more than 60,000 information security professionals worldwide. EC Council is the owner and developer of the world-famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), License Penetration Tester (LPT) programs and various others.
The largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1,000 banks for three successive years. The Bank operates a network of 232 branches and service points in Sri Lanka and an ATM network of 575 terminals, the largest cash dispensing facility operated in the country by a single bank.
Adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 15 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine Commercial Bank has also won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.