Association of Professional Bankers new President shares insights

Seated from left: Hatton National Bank Council Member Thushari Ranaweera; Commercial Bank of Ceylon Treasurer B.A.H.S. Preena; People’s Bank Vice President K.B. Rajapakse; Pan Asia Banking Corporation Secretary General Jeremy De Zilva; Bank of Ceylon President C. Amarasinghe; Seylan Bank Senior Vice President Aruna Fernando; Union Bank of Colombo Immediate Past President Asanka Ranhotty; National Savings Bank Vice President Jagath Gamanayake ; and Bank of Ceylon Council Member Manjula Herath. Standing from left: Bank of Ceylon Council Member Rohana Kumara; Sampath Bank Council Member Halin Hettigoda; DFCC Bank Council Member Anton Arumugam; People’s Bank Council Member Krishani Narangoda; HSBC Council Member Theekshana Pandithasekara; National Development Bank Council Member Indika Kudagamage; National Savings Bank Council Member K. Raveendran; and DFCC Bank Assistant Secretary Thejaka Perera

The 30th Annual General Meeting of the Association of Professional Bankers – Sri Lanka was held on Friday 22 March at HNB Towers, Colombo followed by fellowship and dinner. C. Amarasinghe, Deputy General Manager (Sales and Channel Management) of Bank of Ceylon was elected as the President of APB for the year 2019/20. 

Amarasinghe has been in the banking profession for over 29 years and has acquired a profound knowledge and experience in banking, corporate and offshore banking, and channel management operations. Currently he serves at several companies at directorial level while rending his voluntary service to the Association of Professional Bankers – Sri Lanka. 

He has had his first degree in B.Sc. in Public Administration (Special) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and later obtained his Master of Science degree from the same university. He is also an Associate Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.

Following are excerpts of an interview with the newly-elected president: 

Q: As the newly elected president of APB, what do you feel about this appointment?

A: I consider it as a privilege and honour for me. When I joined the council in year 2011, my sole intention was to get more involved in APB activities and make a better contribution to achieve its objectives interacting with APB colleagues. After eight years, today, I am at the helm of the Association elected as the President and I am very happy about that. I know that it is not an easy job. It is a great challenge, but I am ready to accept it. I know that my team is behind me and their support would be always there for me. I am also fortunate to have a dynamic team of members in my council with different capabilities representing various banks.

Q: After eight years with APB, today you have come to the pinnacle and definitely there may be lot of predecessors and peers who have paved you the way to reach this level. To whom would you like to extend your gratitude as the new President of APB? 

A: First of all, I would like to thank the APB and the selection committee for keeping trust on me and selecting me as the President of this prestigious association for the ensuing year. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported me thus far in my career and supporting and encouraging me to engage in professional activities in the APB. My special thanks goes to W.A. Nalini who was my former CEO and a past President of this Association. She nominated me to the council and always guided me in carrying out my responsibilities in the APB.I also would like to thank Senerath Bandara, the current General Manager of Bank of Ceylon and a past President of APB, for assisting me in every way in discharging my responsibilities in APB activities. Let me look back to the APB year we just completed and the outstanding leadership given to the Association by the president Asanka Ranhotty. Thank you Asanka for your leadership and guidance through many issues we faced during the past year. 

I want to offer my respect and appreciation to all our past presidents as well. Each of them has brought a unique perspective leadership to the Association, yet each one has built upon the foundation of the previous leadership, creating a bridge of the competencies which carries all of us to stronger ground.

Q: Could you please tell us about the APB, its history and objectives in brief? 

A: APB has a long history. Established in 1988 with very clear objectives. It continued to serve the industry, maintaining the highest standard of professionalism, ethics, and governance, as declared in our mission statement. We continued to evolve year after year understanding contemporary trends, whilst upholding its deep rooted principles and values. The prime objective of our association is to undertake, promote and facilitate studies in the banking field and prepare its members for the future by updating them on the changes in the industry from time to time creating a positive impact to the industry.

Q: What is the stance of the banking industry and what are the challenges faced by the banks today?

A: The banking industry is facing several challenges today. Sri Lanka has fully adopted the new accounting reporting principles based on IFRS 9. This will substantially increase the impairment provision on loans with a knock on effect on profits and capital. At the same time some banks will face with challenges of meetings the elevated capital requirements. With the rapid phase of technology adaption, significant changes are taking place in the financial services industry from new electronic channels to reducing use of physical cash to use of artificial intelligence to robotics so on. Along with these advances, there is increasing threats in cyber-attacks and new form of frauds, etc.

As you are aware, the economy has been growing at a lower phase during the past three to four years due to various reasons, and banking sector could not escape from this turbulence arising from the economics shocks come along with it. Industry Non Performing Loans (NPLs) has become a rude reality when stressed businesses spread across the country. Nearly all sectors struggle with the issues impacting on banking business significantly.

Q: As the president of APB, what would be your way forward?

A: Well, during the coming year, we will take necessary steps to strengthen our membership, enhance awareness of APB activities among the members and increase involvement of young bankers in our activities. We will provide opportunities to meet and share knowledge of our members with the assistance of the bank representatives to ensure best participation from the banks at APB activities. I request the membership of APB to involve in APB activities more and more and get the best benefit out of the activities we organise for the membership throughout the year. 

Q: Finally, what would be the message you have to convey to your membership?

A: APB organises several activities in a year for the benefit of the membership. Among all, the Annual Convention is our key event which we are planning to hold in September. Presently we have requested the membership to send their suggestions for a suitable theme. At the council level, we will deliberate on those keeping the key industry issues and trends in mind and will decide on a theme that will align with our objectives and give larger benefits to the participants.

In conclusion, I am requesting the support from my Council, Council of Advisors, past Presidents, and especially our members so that we can add more meaning to our initiatives and accomplish our objectives benefiting the larger audience of the banking community.