Nishaman Karunapala of Melsta Regal appointed as Chairman of LASL

Wednesday, 5 November 2014 01:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Leasing Association of Sri Lanka Ltd (LASL) at their recent AGM appointed Nishaman Karunapala as its Chairman and Chaminda Sampath Hettiarachchi of Central Finance Co PLC as the Deputy Chairman. The LASL is the flagship organisation of the leasing industry. The Association strives to promote, foster, protect and safeguard the interests of the leasing industry in Sri Lanka.

Nishaman Karunapala currently serves as Director/CEO of Melsta Regal Finance Ltd. This is the second instance where he has been selected as the Chairman of the LASL. He brings to the Association a wealth of professional expertise having being in the leasing industry for over 20 years. The incoming Chairman highlighting the plans stated that, “Presently, the non-bank financial services sector is at a very crucial juncture, where the industry per se is facing a scenario of consolidation and mergers. In such an era, the Association should strive to create greater knowledge sharing amongst its members on best practices with a particular emphasis on taking the industry to the next level of growth. I believe that the leasing industry should adapt and be resilient to the changes posed by externalities in the market with product innovation. Therefore the Association has to fulfill the role of being a catalyst and a facilitator of change.” Commenting further he added that, “With the rapid technological changes in the vehicle market there is strong a customer shift towards eco-friendly hybrid and electric options. With this the vehicle market is undergoing many changes. This should be addressed through valuation of vehicles on a realistic basis, which we hope to address by educating on such changes.” The Board of Directors of the Leasing Association of Sri Lanka as at 30 September 2014 is as follows: Nishaman Karunapala – Chairman Melsta Regal Finance Ltd, Chaminda Hettiarachchi – Deputy Chairman Central Finance PLC, Sanjeewa Bandaranayake (Peoples Leasing Co PLC), Sumedha Fernando (SMB Leasing PLC), Sheahan Daniel (Nations Trust Bank PLC), Shiyan Perera (Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC), Brandon Morris (AMW Capital Leasing and Finance PLC), Jithendra Gunatilake (LOLC) and Rajeev De Silva (Siyapatha Finance Ltd).