Lankan-born Shanika awarded MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020

Sri Lankan-born professional in UK Shanika Amarasekara is among the awardees of MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of 2020. 

Shanika works at the British Business Bank’s Board as the General Counsel and Company Secretary, and has been awarded an MBE for services to Business and the Economy.

Shanika Amarasekara

During COVID-19, Shanika led the successful launch of the Future Fund scheme to support innovative UK companies with good potential that typically rely on equity investment and were affected by COVID-19. The Future Fund will help these companies through the current period of economic disruption and the recovery, so they are able to continue their growth trajectory and reach their full economic potential.

Shanika has also contributed to high profile projects outside of her work at the bank and is a Non-Executive Director of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as well as the London Stadium. She has previously been recognised for breaking down barriers at work and working hard for ethnic minorities, and was most recently listed in EMpower’s Top 100 Ethnic Minority Role Model List 2019.

At British Business Bank, Shanika is responsible for ensuring that the legal interests of the bank and its stakeholders are protected, and ensuring that the governance aspects of the institution function smoothly.

Shanika joined the British Business Bank in June 2014. Prior to this, she worked as General Counsel at an institution established by a number of central banks to promote financial stability and economic development. Shanika has previously worked at RBS as a Director in their structured finance team, prior to which she was a Senior Associate in the Capital Markets team at Allen & Overy.