Vacancy for SEC Commissioner after re-appointment blunder

A vacancy has arisen for a Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission following the Finance Ministry terminating the appointment of Rajeev Amarasuriya by virtue of having served two terms.

Multi-qualified professional Amarasuriya was appointed in March as one of the six “Appointed Members” by the new administration. However, last week Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena terminated the appointment.

Amarasuriya first served as a Commissioner in February 2015 under the Chairmanship of Thilak Karunaratne and was re-appointed for a further term in 2018 under the Chairmanship of Ranel T. Wijesinha but didn’t figure in the reconstituted Commission Members in 2020 under the Chairmanship of Viraj Dayaratne PC. 

Of the new appointees Sujeewa Mudalige who is the PwC Sri Lanka Managing Director is on his second term. Chartered accountant and ex-CA Sri Lanka President Manil Jayasinghe was re-appointed as well.

The new SEC Commission members are Chairman Faizal Salieh, Sujeewa Mudalige, Anthony Shanil Fernando, Anton Godfrey, Manil Jayesinghe, R.R.M.P. Rathnayake, Sanjeewa Dissanayake, Sanjaya Bandara and Yvette Fernando.

ICC Sri Lanka Chairman Shanil Anthony Fernando and AGXA AG International Company Chairman/CEO Anton Godfrey are first term appointees though they had served the Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) previously.

Deputy Treasury Secretary R.M.P. Ratnayake and Central Bank Deputy Governor Yvette Fernando are nominated members while Registrar General of Companies Sanjeewa Dissanayake and CA Sri Lanka President Sanjaya Bandara will serve as ex-officio members.