Heavy movements in financial sector boards

Obeyesekere quits HNB

R.K. Obeyesekere has resigned from the Board of Directors of Hatton National  Bank (HNB) Plc with immediate effect.

This follows him completing his term of office as a Director under the direction of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank on corporate governance for licenced commercial bank.

Obeyesekere was first appointed to HNB Board in 1998 and his exit is after 13 years.

He was former Deputy Chairman – Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. He is a Director of Stassen Group of Companies, Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) PLC, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC, Madulsima Plantations PLC and Lanka Dairies (Pvt) Ltd.

Prof. Watawala out from Asian Alliance

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala has resigned from the Board of Directors of Asian Alliance Insurance Plc with effect from 31 December 2011.

He was representing interests of Richard Pieris and Co Plc, which sold out of the company recently.

New Chairman at Commercial Credit

Longstanding Chairperson and Director Vagdevi W. Fernando has resigned from the Board of Commercial Credit Plc with effect from 31 December 2011.

In succession Cecil Perera has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Commercial Credit.

During a career spanning over 28 years as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court, Perera has gained a vast amount of expertise in all areas of the law, including corporate law, banking law, leasing and finance law, capital market and fund management services, corporate debt financing services, and intellectual property advisory services.

A well respected figure in legal circles, Perera is currently a partner of Legal Inc – Attorneys-at-Law & Notary Public. Prior to this he served as the Head of Legal Department at Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka Ltd. for a period of 10 years, as well as at LB Finance PLC and The Finance PLC as a legal officer.

He currently serves on the boards of Management Systems (Pvt) Ltd., Thilanka Hotels (Pvt) Ltd., Eurocenter DDC (Pvt) Ltd. and Winall (Pvt) Ltd. He has passed the Certificate Course on Modern Banking conducted by the Post Graduate Institute of Management, Sri Jayewardenepura University.

Trade Finance and Investments get new Director

Trade Finance and Investments Ltd. has announced the appointment of C.S.R. Sanjeewa Anthony to its Board of Directors.

Antony is the Executive Director of Jetwing Hotels Ltd.

He commenced his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and thereafter joined Jetwing Hotels Ltd. as Finance Manager in 1996.  He is an Attorney-at-Law, Notary Public, Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka.

He is fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Hiran Cooray who resigned recently in compliance with the directive on corporate governance issued by Central Bank which states that a director of finance company shall not hold office as director in more than 20 companies/societies/bodies corporate including associate companies and subsidiaries of the finance company.

GCB retires from Singer Finance Board

Senior business leader G.C.B. Wijeyesinghe has resigned from the Board of Directors of Singer Finance (Lanka) Plc, with effect from 30 December 2011.

This was in line with the Finance Companies Corporate Governance Direction No. 3 of 2008.

Following his resignation the new Board of Directors of Singer Finance comprises H.D.S. Amarasuriya (Chairman), H.A. Pieris (Group CEO), Dr. Saman Kelegama, G.J. Walker (Alternate S. Ramanathan), J. Hyun, M.P.A. Salgado and R.S. Wijeweera (Director and CEO)

Rohini quits Lanka Orix Finance

Former veteran banker Rohini Nanayakkara has stepped down as Director and Chairperson of Lanka Orix Finance Plc with effect from 31 December 2011.

This was in accordance with Corporate Governance Direction of the Central Bank relating to directors of finance companies relinquishing their directorships on reaching the age of 70 years and also completing a transition period of three years thereafter.

Nanayakkara however will remain as Chairperson of Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc, the holding company of LOLC Group.

Bri Ponnambalam new Chairman of Arpico Finance as Pratap quits

Motor industry icon Bri Ponnambalan has been appointed as Chairman of Arpico Finance Co Plc with effect from 1 January 2012.

This is following the resignation of J.E. Pratapkumar A. de Silva as Chairman.

Romani de Silva will continue as Deputy Chairman.

Arpico Finance also announced that D.L.S.R. Perera as resigned from the post of Deputy Chairman in addition to R.K.P. de Silva as a Non Executive Director.

Nilanka Mevan Peiris has been appointed to the Board of Arpico Finance as a Non Executive Independent Director. Pieris is an Associate Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

His areas of expertise include financial planning and control, sales and marketing strategy, business development and analysis, as well as project, portfolio and operational management.

Alliance Finance gets a Chairperson

Alliance Finance Company Plc has got a Chairperson following the appointment of K.S.K. de Silva with effect from 1 January 2012.

The move follows the resignation of J.E. Pratapkumar A. de Silva as Chairman. Romani de Silva will continue as Deputy Chairman.

De Silva joined Alliance Board on 1 June 2004 as a Non-Executive Director. She is also an Executive Director of Alliance Agencies Ltd., agents for Heidelberg printing machines in Sri Lanka. She is a Director of many other companies.

She holds a Diploma in Printing from the Print Media Academy of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and has 34 years of experience in the graphic arts industry in Sri Lanka.

The company also announced the resignation of three other Directors, J.F.R. de Saram, R.M. Canekeratne and B. Ponnambalam.