Senarath Bandara appointed GM/CEO at Bank of Ceylon

The Bank of Ceylon has appointed K. B. Senarath Bandara as the new General Manager and CEO with effect from 22 February. At present, he is the Deputy General Manager (Sales and Channel Management). 

The appointment comes with the retirement of long-standing GM/CEO D. M. Gunasekara. He completed 34 years of service was appointed GM/CEO in January 2013. Bandara is a senior banker with an illustrious career spanning over 28 years at BOC. He joined the Bank as a Management Trainee and acquired experience in key areas of banking such as treasury management, corporate credit, international banking, branch operations, electronic banking, etc., at various capacities. He has also experience in managing Bank of Ceylon UK Ltd., London as its CEO/Director from 2011 to 2012, and has successfully led several key projects of the Bank including the London Branch subsidiarisation, the core banking system upgrade, the Bank’s transformation project etc.

He is a member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and a Director of Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance Plc. He is also a Council Member of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka and the incumbent President of the Association of Professional Banks, Sri Lanka. Formerly, he was a Director of the Regional Development Bank.

Prior to joining the Bank, he served as a Temporary Assistant Lecturer at the University of Kelaniya and as a Statistician at the Planning and Monitoring Unit of the Mahaweli Authority. He had been a resource person at the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lana in the field of credit and investment management for several years. 

Bandara is a graduate of the University of Kelaniya in Physical Science with a Second Class (Upper Division) and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a Merit Pass from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, USA, where he successfully completed the Advanced Management Program. Bandara is a professionally qualified banker and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka. He has also obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Bank Management from the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and was presented with the Best Student Award.