Central Finance appoints Manjula de Silva Chairman; veteran banker Sellathurai Prabagar joins Board

Central Finance Company PLC has appointed Manjula de Silva as Chairman with effect from 16 August. The company has also appointed Sellathurai Prabagar to its Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

De Silva has been a member of the Board of Central Finance Company PLC since 1 July 2020 and was appointed as the Senior Director with effect from 1 May 2025.

He holds a BA Hons (First Class) degree in Economics from the University of Colombo and an MBA from London Business School, UK. He is also an FCMA (UK) and a CGMA. Further, he has pursued executive education at INSEAD Business School, France, and Harvard Business School, USA.

He currently serves as a Director of the Gamani Corea Foundation and an Independent Director on the Board of the Asian Reinsurance Corporation based in Bangkok. He served as the Secretary General and CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, he served as Chairman of the state-owned National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) from 2015 to 2019. 

He also served as a Commission Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Sri Lanka during 2018–19, a Consultant to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development during 2017–18 and a Commission Member of the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) during 2021–25. Prior to 2015, he was the Managing Director of HNB Assurance PLC for 9 years and its CEO for 2 more years. He has also held leadership positions as General Manager, Eagle NDB Fund Management Company Ltd (currently NDB Wealth Management), General Manager – Corporate Lines and Human Resources, Eagle Insurance Co. Ltd (currently AIA Insurance) and Director General, Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC).

He also served as the Chairman of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Sri Lanka Board in 2016 and was subsequently appointed to its Regional Board for the MESANA (Middle East, South Asia and North Africa) Region. He was a Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for a long period of time and served as the Chairman of its Steering Committee on Insurance. He chairs the Public Sector Reform Committee of the Chamber at present. He is a Past President of both the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) and the Unit Trust Association of Sri Lanka (UTASL).

Prabagar is a distinguished banking professional with three decades of experience in commercial banking, banking operations, corporate banking, internal audit, governance, risk management and strategic leadership. He served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, where he was responsible for overseeing operations and contributed significantly to the formulation and execution of strategic initiatives across the bank.

During his banking career, Prabagar held several senior leadership positions, including Deputy General Manager – Corporate Banking, Assistant General Manager – Operations, Head of Internal Audit, and Chief Operating Officer and Country Manager of the Bank’s Bangladesh Operations. He successfully led the expansion of Commercial Bank’s operations in Bangladesh from two branches to a network of nineteen branches, demonstrating strong leadership in business growth, operational excellence and cross-border banking.

Prabagar possesses expertise in corporate governance, enterprise risk management, operational risk, internal controls, regulatory compliance, corporate banking, retail banking, digital banking operations and business transformation. He has worked closely with the Board of Directors and Board Committees of a systemically important licensed commercial bank, contributing to governance, risk oversight, technology, credit and sustainability matters.

He has also served as the Bank’s Ombudsman, represented Commercial Bank at the National Payments Council of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, was a member of the Bankers’ Technical Assistance Committee (BTAC) of the Bankers’ Association of Sri Lanka, and served as a visiting lecturer for the Postgraduate Diploma in Bank Management conducted by the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.

Prabagar holds a Master of Business Administration (Banking) from the University of London, is an Associate of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (AIB), is fully qualified by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA UK), holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Bharathidasan University, is qualified as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA - USA), and holds a Diploma in Systems Security and Control Audit (DISSCA) awarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

Prabagar has extensive banking experience, strong governance credentials, a deep understanding of financial services regulation, and expertise in risk management and internal controls.