Suresh, Ranel among new SEC Commissioners appointed

Monday, 16 February 2015 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Business leader Suresh Shah and top professional Ranel T. Wijesinha are among new Commissioners appointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Prime Minister. Shah is the CEO of Lion Brewery Ceylon Plc as well Executive Director at Carson Cumberbatch apart from being the Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Wijesinha is a Chartered Accountant and Management Consultant. He has previously served the Commission as ex-officio when he was the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Other appointees are award-winning young professional Rajeeva Amarasuriya, former Acting Director General, Deputy Director General and Director Legal and Enforcement of the SEC Marina Fernando, and capital market professional Dili Wijewardena. These new appointees, along with Chairman Tilak Karunaratne, form the six members appointed by the subject Minister taking into consideration the wide experience and vast knowledge they possess in legal, financial, business and administrative matters. The 10-member commission also has three ex-officio appointments and one as representative from the Central Bank. The new appointees will join Registrar of Companies D.N.R. Siriwardena, Institute of Chartered Accountants President Arjuna Herath, Treasury nominee S.R. Attygalle and CB Deputy Governor P. Samarasiri. Shah is Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC and Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. Wijesinha is a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Past President of the 23 nation strong, Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA). He has worked locally in a large and diversified public quoted company in Sri Lanka, and overseas with a ‘Big 4’ accounting and consulting firm. He has also contributed to the public sector in Sri Lanka as a Member, Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka; Member of the first Consumer Affairs Council under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act; Member of the Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board; Chairman of the Monitoring and Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Power and Energy; Member, Governing Council, National Institute of Business Management and Member, Board of Management, the Post Graduate Institute of Management. Amarasuriya is an Attorney-at-Law practicing before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. He is also a Fellow Member of CIMA (UK) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant and possesses a LL.B (Hons.) Degree from the University of Colombo. He has the distinction of being awarded the Gold Medal by the Sri Lanka Law College, having come first at the Attorneys-at-Law Final Examination in 2003. Last year, in recognition of his outstanding achievements CIMA awarded him the CIMA Star Gold Medal as the ‘Most Outstanding CIMA Member below the Age of 40 Years’. He has been a onetime visiting lecturer and examiner in Tax Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, and has also been an Examiner at the Sri Lanka Law College. He is presently the Vice President of the Alumni Association of the University of Colombo.