New Acting GMs appointed at Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank

The Ministry of Finance has appointed Acting General Managers at the two State banking giants, the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank with immediate effect. 

D.P.K. Gunasekara

K.B.  Rajapakse

The Acting GM at Bank of Ceylon is Sudath Gunasekara who was previously the Senior Deputy General Manager (International, Treasury and Investment). At the People’s Bank the Acting GM is K.B.  Rajapakse, the Senior Deputy General Manager – Retail Banking.

They replaced veteran bankers Senarath Bandara at BOC and Rasitha Gunawardana at the People’s Bank.

Last Friday the Daily FT exclusively reported that State bank General Manager posts are under threat (see online www.ft.lk/front-page/State-bank-GM-posts-under-threat/44-696518) as the Government wasn’t happy with the speed in which the incumbents were moving.



Following the Cabinet decision to change the heads, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle made the Acting appointments. Bandara and Gunawardana were seconded and offered placements at the Treasury. Daily FT learns Bandara had opted to retire from the service. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa are keen to re-energise key agencies as part of kick-starting the economy and supporting the private sector, especially the small and medium enterprises. The new appointees are considered as more dynamic though it is unclear how the trade unions would react.

The newly appointed Chairman of BoC is top lawyer and public-private sector fame Kanchana Ratwatte and the People’s Bank Chairman is top professional Sujeewa Rajapakse.

New Acting GM at Bank of Ceylon Gunasekara holds BSc.Sp. Business Administration (USJ), PG Dip. Business and Finance Administration (CA Sri Lanka), AIB (Sri Lanka), MBA (Australia) University of Southern Queensland.

He was appointed Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking) in February 2013. Previously he held the position of Assistant General Manager (Overseas Branches) and Assistant General Manager (Corporate Relations) since October 2010.

Commencing his career in 1980 with retail banking in branches in various parts of the country, Gunasekera has specialised in Treasury Operations, especially in foreign exchange trading, money market operations, and Government securities trading. He has gathered a wide range of exposure in dealing operations in BOC London Branch, and had specialised training in Foreign Exchange Trading in American Express Bank London, and Lloyds Bank London.

Graduated from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka, with a Bachelor of Science Special Degree in Business Administration, and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Business and Finance Administration from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.

People’s Bank Acting GM Rajapaksa joined the bank in 1987 as a Management Trainee and counts 32 years of experience in People’s Bank. He holds a Second Class Honours Degree (B.Sc.) in Public Administration, Fellow of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Attorney-at-Law of Sri Lanka, Diploma of Institute of Credit Management of Sri Lanka and Post Graduate Diploma of Management and IT at University of Kelaniya. 

He has gained wide experience in various management level capacities in branch network of the bank and Corporate Banking Division and at present serves as the Senior Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking) of the bank.

BOC’s outgoing General Manager Bandara assumed office in February 2018. Previously he was the Deputy General Manager, in charge of Sales and Channel Management of Bank of Ceylon.

Bandara joined BOC in January 1990 as a Management Trainee and subsequently he was appointed to the corporate management in March 2012. He served in the Executive Management since January 2008 holding the position of Assistant General Manager in diverse business fields, viz. Overseas Branch Operations, International Banking, Corporate Relations and as the Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Ceylon (UK) Ltd.

Bandara obtained his first degree from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka in the field of Physical Science and obtained an MBA from Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka with a Merit Pass. He is also a Fellow Member of Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (FIB) and obtained a Postgraduate Executive Diploma in Bank Management from the same institute with the highest ranking performance award in 1998.

People’s Bank outgoing General Manager Gunawardana assumed office in April 2019. Previously he was the Senior Deputy General Manager (Business Banking) in which capacity he oversaw the corporate and enterprise loan book. 

Gunawardana joined People’s Bank in 1987 and has over four decades serving both private and public sector institutions – of which over three decades’ in Banking and Financial services. At People’s Bank, he has since served in multiple functional areas/disciplines in varying capacities covering Finance, Performance Management, Corporate and Commercial Credit, Treasury Operations, Credit Control and Risk Management. 

He has over 10 years’ experience in Corporate and Executive Management positions in the bank and was its Chief Risk Officer during 2012 to 2017 where he played a key role in shaping the bank’s overall Risk Management Framework and more notably helping it navigate through the 2012/2013 pawning crises. 

Prior to joining People’s Bank, he served in the private sector gaining a broad exposure in tourism, plantation and construction sectors. He has been a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) since 1985.