Board of Directors

Mr. Ronald C. Perera, President’s Counsel

Chairman, Bank of Ceylon

Mr. Ronald C. Perera, President’s Counsel is appointed as the Chairman of Bank of Ceylon with effective from 18th January 2023. He has previously served as a Director on the Board of of Bank of Ceylon and then as its Chairman during 28th January 2015 to 18th November 2018 and 12th February 2019 to 26th November 2019.

Presently, he is serving as the Chairman of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Limited and as the Acting Chairman of National Lotteries Board. He has also served as the Chairman of BOC (UK) Limited, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance PLC and Acting Chairman of Hotels Colombo (1963) Limited, which are subsidiaries of Bank of Ceylon and as a Director of Mireka Capital Land (Private) Limited and Mireka Homes (Private) Limited, former associate companies of the Bank.

Mr. Perera is an experienced lawyer with a wide practice in the Original Courts as well as in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Sri Lanka especially in the areas of civil and criminal litigation, negotiation and drafting of commercial and transport contracts and agreements. He specializes in Commercial Law, Banking Law, Industrial Law, Injunctions, Defamation, Election Petitions, Civil Appeals, Revision Applications, Writ Applications and Fundamental Rights Cases. Additionally, has appeared in several Commercial Arbitrations.

Mr. Perera is an attorney -at-law and holds a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree from the University of Colombo and a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) in International Trade Law from Northumbria University, United Kingdom.

Mr R.M.P. Rathnayake

Ex-Officio Director

Mr. R.M.P Rathnayake assumed duties as Deputy Secretary to the Treasury on 08th January 2020 is a Special Grade officer in the Sri Lanka Planning Service and has been in the public service for almost 25 years in various positions. Mr. Ratnayake joined the public service as an Assistant Director belonging to the Planning Service in 1994. He was attached to the Department of National Planning, which is the apex government institution responsible for development planning and preparation of National Development Plans.

In January 2011, he has appointed as the Director in-charge of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Division of the External Resources Department (ERD) which is responsible for mobilizing foreign financing for economic development of the country. Subsequently he has been promoted as the Additional Director General and then as the Director General of the ERD, he was responsible for coordinating with development partners, lending agencies and capital market to mobilize foreign financing for development projects, engage with bilateral negotiations and facilitate timely disbursement of foreign financing. He has gained vast experience in multilateral development banking as an Alternate Executive Director to the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank located in Beijing, China representing Sri Lankan government.

Also served as an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of National Policies & Economic Affairs from February to May 2015 and appointed as DG/ERD in May 2015 again

Other Significant Positions held:

• Alternate Director - Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Beijing, PRC

• Chairman, National Savings Bank, Sri Lanka

• Member, National Medicine Regulatory Authority, which regulates medicines, medical devices, borderline products, clinical trials and cosmetics

• Director, Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka

• Director, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management

• Director of the People’s Bank, a leading state bank in Sri Lanka

• Member of the Board of Management of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo, institute that is responsible for the specialist training of Medical doctors

• Member of the Board of Directors of the National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka, which is the main state sponsored organization mandated for the task of development of the aquaculture and inland fisheries sector

• Member of the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy (CAARP). CAARP advises the government on all matters regarding organization, planning and excusing of agricultural research

• Member of the Governing Council of the University of Vocational Training, A state University responsible for technical and Vocational training

• Member of the Board of Directors of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) from January 2006 to April 2010. SPC has been the sole supplier of pharmaceuticals, surgical consumable items, laboratory chemicals and equipment to all public health institutions.

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka from January 2006 to April 2010.

• Member of the Advisory Board to the Science and Technology Policy Research Division of the National Science Foundation from May 2005.

Professional Record:

• Member of the Sri Lanka Economic Association-(Sri Lanka Economic Association, 275/75, Prof. Stanley WijeesundaraMawatha, Colombo 07.)

• Visiting Consultant/ lecturer of the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) since 2007

Mr. Anura Christopher Manilka Fernando

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Manilka Fernando is a banking and finance professional who has over 35 years of experience, working in financial institutions and other organizations in Sri Lanka and overseas. Since starting his career at KPMG, he has held senior management positions in the financial services sector at Citibank, Mashreq Bank (Dubai, UAE), NDB Bank and Al Rajhi Bank (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

In addition, he has carried out consulting/advisory projects in strategic planning, restructuring and organizational development at a range of organizations, including Commercial Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions.

He has an MBA degree from the University of Georgia, USA. He is also a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. His specialized training includes programmes at Harvard University and INSEAD.

Major General (Rtd) G A Chandrasiri RWP VSV USP ndc psc

Non-Executive Director

Major General (Rtd) G A Chandrasiri was appointed to the Board of Bank of Ceylon on 08.01.2021 as a Non-Executive Director.  

He is the incumbent Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited since December 2019.  

Previously he held the position of Governor of the Northern Province from 2009 to 2015. His dedicated and committed service during the five and a half years’ tenure as the Governor assisted immensely in rebuilding the lives of the people of war-ravaged Northern Province.  

During his illustrious military career of 35 years, he had held a number of key command and staff appointments in the Sri Lanka Army. Being a product of the elite Cavalry Army of the Sri Lanka Army, the Armoured Corps, he commanded the prestigious Armoured Brigade, two infantry divisions in the North prior to becoming the Commander of the important Security Forces Headquarters, Jaffna from 2005 to 2009. He too served as the Military Security Co-ordinator to HE the President from 1999 to 2002. He was also privileged to hold the posts of Principal Staff Officer at the Joint Operations Command Headquarters and Regimental Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Special Forces. At the final stage of his military career, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. In addition to his duties as the Chief of Staff, he functioned as the Competent Authority for the administration of Internally Displaced People in Northern Province.  

In recognition of his service, he was awarded a number of medals and decorations including Rana Wickram Padakkama (RWP), Vishishta Sewa Vibushanaya (VSV) and Uththama Sewa Padakkama (USP).  

He is a graduate from the prestigious National Defence College, India and Defence services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh. At present, he is reading for his Ph.D at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.