Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Thursday, 12 February 2026 01:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Association of Alternate Financial Institutions (AAFI) has appointed its new Board for the year 2026/2027 at the Annual General Meeting held recently.
AAFI is the national representative body for Sri Lanka’s non‑interest‑based alternate finance sector, uniting a diverse spectrum of financial institutions and stakeholders. AAFI serves as the collective voice of the industry, driving policy dialogue, regulatory alignment, and sector development across the country.
The following were unanimously re-elected for the below Board positions, for a period of 2 years with effect from January 2026.
Siddeeque Akbar – President; Suresh R. I. Perera - Vice President; Rifka Ziyard – Secretary; Ilsam Awfer - Assistant Secretary; Bahar Nayan – Treasurer; and Hisham Ally - Assistant Treasurer.
Siddeeque Akbar is the current Vice President - Retail Banking and Marketing at Amana Bank, and was re-elected unanimously by the Association members as its President. Suresh Perera, the Vice President and Rifka Ziyard, who is the Secretary of AAFI are Principals – Tax and Regulatory at KPMG. Bahar Nayan who is currently attached to NDB as Senior Manager- Islamic Banking Unit, was appointed as the Treasurer while Hisham Ally, Deputy General Manager, HNB was appointed the Assistant Treasurer and Ilsam Awfer, Chief Manager - AFSU LOLC Finance was appointed the Assistant Secretary.
Under the direction of the AAFI board, the association looks forward to the new chapter in pursuing its vision of ensuring Sri Lanka optimises the full potential of this unique model of Banking and Finance.
The membership of AAFI includes leading Banks and Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka. The members of AAFI are Amana Bank PLC, Bank of Ceylon PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, LB Finance PLC, People’s Leasing and Finance PLC, Al- Falaah– LOLC Finance PLC, LOLC General Insurance PLC, HNB General Insurance PLC, KPMG, Commercial Bank of Ceylon - Al Adalah, Amana Takaful PLC, MCB Bank Ltd, Seylan Bank PLC, NDB Bank PLC, NDB Investment Bank Ltd.
The AAFI also launched its website https://www.aafi.lk/ recently.
