Nishaman Karunapala new CEO at MBSL

Top professional Nishaman Karunapala has been appointed as the new CEO of the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance Plc (MBSL) with effect from 17 July.

He will succeed T. Mutugala who is leaving MBSL upon expiration of his contract of employment. Kurunapala joined MBSL as CEO designate on 4 July.

He possess over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. His core expertise lies in the areas of finance leasing, trade and project finance, factoring, credit, recoveries, business development, corporate strategy, systems and process development and risk management. 

He was Director/CEO of Melsta Regal Finance Ltd., a subsidiary of Melstacorp Plc for over five years since its inception in 2012. As the lead and founding member of the management at Melsta Regal, Karunapala was involved in strategising and positioning the entity as a revolutionary player in the industry with novel product offerings. 

Having commenced his career at A. Baur and Co. Ltd., he moved to the financial services industry first at the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and subsequently at Seylan Merchant Bank and Mercantile Leasing Ltd. He served a nine year period at Orient Finance Plc since its inception in 2003, in the capacities of Assistant General Manager (Operations) and Deputy General Manager, having plated a lead role in founding the entity. He has studied the systems and operational procedures of reputed financial institutions in Ireland, UK, Singapore, India and Philippines. He has represented international training programs in Ireland, UK, Japan and Philippines.

He is currently a Council Member of the Financial Houses Association (FHA) and a Director of the Leasing Association of Sri Lanka (LASL). 

Previously he served two terms as the Chairman of LASL. He was also a Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and a former Director of the Credit Information Bureau of Sri Lanka. 

He received his MBA-Banking and Finance from Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), BSc - Business Administration (Special) Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a Postgraduate Level Diploma in Modern Commercial Banking from PIM. He also holds a Membership of the Certified Management Accountants (Australia).