Janaka Walisundera appointed new CEO to steer UB Finance

Janaka Walisundera, an international business management professional has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of UB Finance Company recently. UB Finance, which was formed with the acquisition of The Finance & Guarantee Co Ltd by Sri Lanka’s premier financial institution, Union Bank of Colombo PLC and its international strategic investment partner ShoreCap II Ltd., is the latest entrant to the world of finance in Sri Lanka.

Walisundera has over 20 years of management experience in Local and MNCs across several industries, namely FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Alcoholic Beverages, Retail, ICT and Financial Services in diverse markets such as Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.  

He commenced his career as a frontline sales and marketing professional and cherishes his rewarding stint of 14 years with the global giant GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals as a key highlight of his personal development where he rose to the position of Head of Sales for Sri Lanka & Maldives. Then, he was instrumental  in carving out a unique niche in the arena of business consultancy by actively promoting the concept of ‘Business Consultancy with Accountability’, an innovative service offering in Sri Lanka during early 2000 and had a successful stint with International Distillers Lanka Ltd delivering change management and business turnaround expertise.

Thereafter, he was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Just In Time Group which position he held until his migration to the UK.  

His stints in UAE and UK have been in retail and financial services respectively. Prior to taking up the position as CEO of UB Finance, Walisundera has been with HSBC Bank plc UK for over five years working in London and considers it as an important milestone in his career due to the unique and value adding experience it offered him, during the peak of the global financial and economic crisis.

He is proud to be back to serve Sri Lanka in her phase of exponential growth and believes his association with UB Finance as the perfect fit to deliver a unique proposition of economic and social value to her people and be perceived as the finance company who understands the true emotions of Sri Lankans.

Walisundera, a MBA of the University of Wales (UK) is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is a visiting lecturer for Strategic Management.