Asite Talwatte has been named as the Chairman of Central Finance PLC with effect from 1st July 2020, whilst financial services expert Manjula de Silva has been appointed to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director.
The move follows the retirement of C.L.K.P. Jayasuriya, as Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 30 June 2020, upon the completion of a term of nine years, in keeping with the provisions contained in Section 4(2) of the Corporate Governance Direction No. 03 of 2008 of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Asite Talwatte joined the Central Finance Board in June 2016 as an Independent Non-Executive Director. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the United Kingdom. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Business and Financial Administration awarded by the ICASL and the University of Wageningen, Holland and a MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
He has worked with Ernst & Young for over 37 years, during which period he functioned as the Country Managing Partner for over a decade. He has served as a Director of People’s Bank and the SME Bank and currently functions as the Chairman of Management Systems Ltd. and serves on the Boards of several other companies including Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC, Sunshine Holdings PLC, Tokyo Cement Lanka PLC, CT Holdings PLC, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC and Lanka Hospitals PLC.
Manjula de Silva holds a BA Hons (First Class) degree in Economics from the University of Colombo and a MBA from London Business School, UK. He is also a FCMA (UK) and a CGMA. Further, he has pursued executive education at INSEAD Business School, France and Harvard Business School, USA.
He was recently appointed as the Secretary General and CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with effect from 1st February 2020.
Prior to that, he served as Chairman of the National Insurance Trust Fund, as a Commission Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka and as a Consultant to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development. He has also served as the Managing Director of HNB Assurance PLC for 9 years and has functioned as its CEO for a further 2 years. He has also held leadership positions as General Manager, Eagle NDB Fund Management Company Ltd (currently NDB Wealth Management), General Manager – Corporate Lines and Human Resources, Eagle Insurance Co. Ltd (currently AIA Insurance) and Director General, Public Enterprises Reform Commission.
Currently, he is an Independent Non – Executive Director and Chairman – Audit Committee of BPPL Holdings PLC.
