Commercial Bank announces new MD and COO

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC yesterday announced the appointments of Sivakrishnarajah Renganathan and Sanath Manatunge, two career bankers who have served the Bank for 37 years and 29 years respectively, as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, effective 27 July.

Renganathan, who has been Commercial Bank’s Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director for the past four years, succeeds Jegan Durairatnam as Managing Director, on the latter’s retirement after a distinguished 36-year career at the country’s benchmark private Bank.

S. Renganathan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK (FCMA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), a Fellow of the London Institute of Banking & Finance, UK (FLIBF) and a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers (Sri Lanka) (FIB). 

He has held several key positions in the Corporate Management of Commercial Bank, and in July 2003led the Bank’s acquisition of the Bangladesh operations of Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI), Commercial Bank’s first ever acquisition of a banking operation. He was thereafter appointed Country Manager (Bangladesh), in which capacity he led a team of 225 over a five-year tenure, building up the Bank’s operations in Bangladesh.

Renganathan was also the first ever Chief Risk Officer of the Bank. Prior to being appointed Chief Operating Officer, he spearheaded the Personal Banking Division as Deputy General Manager (Personal Banking). During his tenure in Personal Banking, the Bank experienced rapid growth in areas, such as branch expansion and new product development.

After assuming duties as Chief Operating Officer, Renganathan spearheaded a massive automation and digitalisation of the services of the Bank, together with strategic developments in credit cards and remittances. 

He has served, among others, as: Member of the General Council of the Institute of Bankers of Bangladesh, Founder President of the Sri Lanka Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Executive Member of the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh, and Executive Committee Member of the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka.  

Sanath Manatunge, who succeeds Renganathan as Chief Operating Officer, currently heads the Corporate Banking and Trade Finance Divisions of Commercial Bank as Deputy General Manager (Corporate Banking). He is also a director of the Bank’s Maldivian subsidiary, Commercial Bank of Maldives, and the Bank’s IT subsidiary, OneZero Company Ltd.

Manatunge also held the position of Chief Risk Officer of the Bank, prior to assuming duties as the Deputy General Manager (Corporate Banking). Under Manatunge, the Corporate Banking Division of the Bank experienced rapid growth in the loan book,and in areas such as Trade Finance fee-based income, while maintaining the quality of advances. 

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK (FCMA) anda Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA),Manatunge has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Bankers (Sri Lanka), and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka.  Manatunge was instrumental in forming the Association of Banking Sector Risk Professionals, Sri Lanka,and was its President in 2014. He has also served as a Council Member of the Association of Professional Bankers (APB) and as a member of the CIMAThought Leadership Committee.ehe

Manatunge was adjudged the “Chief Information Security Officer of the Year” at the EC-Council Global CISO Forum held in Atlanta, USA, in September 2013, in recognition of his outstanding contribution in strengthening and promoting information security practices.

Sri Lanka’s largest and most awarded private Bank and the only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked in the Top 1000 banks of the world for eight consecutive years, Commercial Bank operates a network of 261 branches and 767 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won more than 30 international and local awards in 2016 and 2017 and has over the years received multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank and Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass: Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon; the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake; and Italy, where the Bank operates its own money transfer service.