Monetary Board appoints four new Assistant Governors

K.G.P. Sirikumara

D. Kumaratunge

U. L. Muthugala

C. P. S.Bandara

The Monetary Board, at its meeting last week, has promoted K.G.P. Sirikumara, D. Kumaratunge, U.L. Muthugala, and C.P.S. Bandara to the post of Assistant Governor with effect from 17 November 2021. 

Following are the profiles of the four new appointees. 

K.G.P. Sirikumara

Sirikumara has served the Central Bank for more than 21 years in different capacities in the Departments of Legal and Compliance and Secretariat.

He has served as a member in the National Payments Council, Financial Stability Committee, Non-financial Risk Management Committee, and in the Panel of Experts appointed under the Payment Devices Frauds Act No. 30 of 2006. He has also functioned as an observer in the Monetary Board Advisory Audit Committee and Board Risk Oversight Committee.

Sirikumara has been instrumental in introducing numerous law reforms in the banking and financial sector, financial market infrastructures, capital markets and combating money laundering and terrorist financing. He has introduced strict governance standards within the bank and introduced resolution and enforcement measures to strengthen the financial sector.

Sirikumara holds Masters of Law Degrees from the Monash University – Australia and the University of Colombo. He also holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the University of Colombo. He is an Attorney-at-Law and a member of the International Compliance Association (ICA) – United Kingdom. He possesses International Diplomas in Anti Money Laundering (Graduate) and in Compliance (Graduate). 

D. Kumaratunge

Kumaratunge has over 30 years of experience in the Central Bank and has worked in the Departments of Economic Research, Centre for Banking Studies, Information Technology, and Management Audit in different capacities before serving as the Director of Payments and Settlements Department from 2016.

Kumaratunge has represented CBSL in the Board of Directors of the Lanka Financial Services Bureau Limited (LFSBL) and in the Governing Council of the National Institute of Business Management. He has been a member of the Academic Council and in the Syllabus Review Panel of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and has also served in the Steering Committee to monitor the use of Transit Card appointed by the Ministry of Transport, Workers’ Remittances Task Force, IT/BPO Sectoral Task Force appointed by the Presidential Task Force, Steering Committee on Digital Platform Policy Framework, Roadmap and Action Plan to create a uniform Digital Business Landscape by ICTA Agency of Sri Lanka, and the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Centre for Banking Studies – CBSL.

He has further served in internal committees in the capacities of Secretary to the National Payments Council, member of the Financial Technology Advancement Committee (FTAC) of the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Steering Committee for Procurement and Implementation of a new Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System, the Financial System Stability Committee, the Steering Committee on the Procurement of a New Treasury Management System for Foreign Reserves Management, , the Selection Committee and Governance Committee of the Blockchain Technology-Based Shared Know Your Customer Proof of Concept Development Project and Team Leader of the Bank of Korea – Knowledge Partnership Program on Payment Systems.

Kumaratunge holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Technology from the University of Colombo, Master of Arts Degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics from the University of Essex – United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Peradeniya. He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology obtained from the University of Colombo.

U.L. Muthugala

Muthugala has served the Central Bank for more than 30 years in the Departments of Secretariat, Finance, Bank Supervision, Public Debt, International Operations, Internal Audit, Financial System Stability, Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions in different capacities. She has functioned as the Chief Accountant as well as the Secretary of the CBSL. She also possesses expertise in core central banking areas of financial system stability, supervision and regulation of financial institutions, debt and portfolio management and international finance, and foreign reserves management.

Muthugala has further served as a member of several committees, including the Foreign Reserves Management Committee, Domestic Debt Management Committee, Internal Investment Committee, Committee on the International Sovereign Bond issue by the Government of Sri Lanka, Emergency Action Task Force established regarding COVID-19 pandemic, and as an observer in committees such as Financial System Stability Committee, Audit Committee, and the Internal Investment Oversight Committee. 

She has also actively engaged in corporate social responsibility projects implemented by staff associations within the bank, including the Central Bank Trust Fund for Tsunami Affected Children.

She holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Colombo and is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) – United Kingdom. She also possesses the ACI Dealing Certificate of the Financial Markets Association.

C.P.S. Bandara

Bandara has over 24 years of experience at the Central Bank in the areas of financial system stability, economic and price stability, corporate services, agency functions, business continuity planning, enterprise-wide risk management and strategic planning. 

He has served in the Departments of Risk Management, Policy Review and Monitoring, Payments and Settlements, Public Debt and Information Technology.

He has served as the Secretary to the Sovereign Ratings Committee, Member of the Steering Committee for international sovereign bond issuances by the Government of Sri Lanka, Secretary to the Payments Reform Steering Committee, Assistant Secretary to the Board Risk Oversight Committee, Secretary to the Non-Financial Risk Management Committee, Member of the Employees’ Provident Fund Investment Oversight Committee and as an Observer of the Monetary Board Advisory Audit Committee, Business Continuity Planning Committee, International Reserves Investment Oversight Committee, Internal Investment Oversight Committee, and the Financial System Stability Committee. He also served as a member in many cabinet-appointed committees established to improve the country’s financial market infrastructure by implementing national level projects.

Bandara was instrumental in establishing the first online communication network between the Central Bank, licensed commercial banks and the primary dealers, and for the establishment of the Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd. He designed and developed the electronic bidding systems for primary auction of government securities, the settlement system for open market operations and the online financial market monitoring and regulatory reporting systems of the Central Bank. He played a key role in implementing the national payments and securities settlement systems infrastructure of the country.

He functioned as a Director of the Board, and a Member of the Board Human Resource

Committee and the Board Audit Committee of the National Clearing House (LankaClear Ltd.), and as Chairman and member of several technical and steering committees of LankaClear Ltd. He was nominated as a Director of the Board of Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT). He also served as a Chief Examiner of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.

He holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Technology from Charles Stewart University – Australia, a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Computer Science from Monash University – Australia and a Diploma in Central Banking. He is also a Member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka.