Second mysterious resignation from BOC Board

A second member of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) Board has resigned within a month of the first, raising questions over their reasons for doing so and confusing the financial services industry. 

The bank, via a filing to the Colombo Stock Exchange on Friday, announced that Charitha Nissanka Wijewardane, an Independent Non-Executive Director, has tendered his resignation from the board with effect from 21 July 2017.

On 27 June, Asela Sanjaya Padmaperuma, another Independent Non-Executive Director, resigned from the board effective 30 June 2017.

The departure of two Independent Directors from the biggest and most profitable commercial bank in the country has caused concern within and outside of the organisation.

Another reason for this is these are two exits from a board of six members.  

CSE does not require companies to state reasons for changes in their Directorate though some have suggested it should ask firms for clarification. 

Some analysts said that one or both directors of the State-owned bank were asked to resign by the Minister of Public Enterprise Development Kabir Hashim (the appointing authority) to pave the way for a reconstitution of the board. 

Following the resignation of Padmaperuma, IT industry leader Mano Sekaram was appointed to fill the vacancy. BOC is yet to announce an appointment to fill the vacancy created through Wijewardena’s exit.

Analysts were also sceptical over the frequent changes of the bank’s Directorate by the Government or Minister, especially when the BOC is regarded as well-managed and a top performer.

Padmaperuma and Wijewardane were appointed on 5 November 2015. Wijewardena is an Engineer by profession and holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Digital Electronics and Communications from the University of Hull, UK. He was the Country General Manager for the IBM World Trade Corporation, Sri Lanka and was the Regional Manager at Lexmark International’s Asia Pacific operations based in Sydney, Australia.

Padmaperuma is a Co-founder and CEO of South Asian Technologies and has wide experience in the IT field. He holds a BSc. in Business Administration from Western Carolina University, North Carolina with a major in Computer Information Systems.  

Following the changes, the Bank of Ceylon Board of Directors comprises Ronald Perera PC (Chairman), Ranel T. Wijesinha, B.J. Sinniah, Ajith Gunawardana, S.R. Attygalle and M. Sekaram.