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Board of Directors
Inspired guidance.
Dedicated leadership.
Richard Ebell
Chairman (Independent, Non-Executive Director)
Richard Ebell
Chairman (Independent, Non-Executive Director)

Mr. Richard Ebell was employed at Hayleys PLC for 32 years, leaving as finance director in 2009, and at Loadstar Pvt Ltd (now part of the Michelin Group) as chief financial officer for 2 years thereafter, gaining varied experience throughout those engagements.

He has served as an Independent Non – Executive Director on the boards of several listed and regulated entities, and as Chairman of their board audit committees and a member of other board committees, over the last 14 years. He is currently on the board of HNB Assurance PLC.

He joined the Board of Cargills Bank in mid- 2015 and has served on multiple committees of the Bank since then. He was a senior independent director prior to his appointment as chairman on 21 January 2023.

Mr.  Ebell is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Sri Lanka, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, and holds a diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Senarath Bandara
Managing Director/CEO
Senarath Bandara
Managing Director/CEO

Mr. Senarath Bandara is a banking professional with a distinguished career spanning over 30 years at the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and retired as its General Manager/Chief Executive Officer. He joined Cargills Bank Ltd as MD/CEO in October 2020.

He has served on several Boards of subsidiaries and associate companies of BOC, and on the Boards of the Credit Information Bureau, Lanka Clear Pvt Ltd, Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd and the Regional Development Bank.

He has also served as a member of the governing body of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, as Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Rural Agriculture Credit Association (APRACA) – a regional association operating out of Bangkok, Thailand, and as Vice Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bankers Association. He was a past President of the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka.

Mr. Bandara has a BSc from the University of Kelaniya and a MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He has a Postgraduate Executive Diploma in Bank Management from the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka, and completed an Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School, USA. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka.

Marianne Page
Non-Independent Non-Executive Director
Marianne Page
Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

Ms. Marianne Page is a pioneer in promoting Sri Lanka as an investment destination to foreign institutional investors since the early 1990’s.

While based in Hongkong, she held senior positions at Global Financial Institutions such as Credit Lyonnais, Smith New Court and Lehman Brothers. Ms. Page has had a longstanding involvement in Asian Financial Markets and has developed a strong network of relationships with leading foreign institutional fund managers.

She is currently based in Singapore and continues to be at the forefront of showcasing Sri Lankan corporates to foreign institutional fund managers. Ms. Page is a consultant to the CT CLSA Group of Companies, which she was instrumental in establishing in 1992.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered institute of Management Accountants, UK.

Yudhishtran Kanagasabai
Independent Non-Executive Director
Yudhishtran Kanagasabai
Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr. Yudy Kanagasabai counts over 35 years of experience at PwC, in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and in Singapore, before he retired as the Senior Partner of PwC, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, on 31 March 2017.

He has served on several committees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He currently serves as a Director and Chairman of the Board Audit Committee and Related Party Transaction Committee of Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC, and as a Director and Chairman of the Board Audit Committees of Millennium IT ESP (Pvt) Limited, Eswaran Brothers Export (Private) Limited and Ambeon Capital PLC. He also serves as a Director of MainGate (Private) Limited.

He continues to serve as a director and member of the Board Audit Committee of Colombo City Holdings PLC and a Director of Taprobane Capital Plus (Pvt) Limited and Peoples Leasing and Finance Company PLC.

Mr. Kanagasabai was a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Union Bank of Colombo PLC from August 2016 to 31 December 2018, served as the Chairman of Dankotuwa Porcelain PLC and has served on the Boards of Cargills Ceylon PLC and Cargills Retail (Pvt) Ltd. He also served as a Commissioner of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka from February 2018 to November 2019.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka).

Buwaneka Perera
Independent Non-Executive Director
Buwaneka Perera
Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr. Buwaneka Perera is a veteran Professional Banker with 41 years of experience in the Financial Sector in Sri Lanka and is an established leader in Corporate Banking, with vast exposure in the field of Investment and Merchant Banking. He served as a Director of NDB Investment Bank Ltd and as Acting Chief Executive Officer of National Development Bank (NDB) PLC and possesses experience of 14 years as the Head of Corporate Banking at NDB in the capacity of Senior Vice President.

He also held varied positions at Deutsche Bank, Sampath Bank PLC and Banque Indosuez.

He serves on the Board of Sierra Cables PLC and holds the position of CEO/ Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Perera has a BSc (Hon) in Financial Services from the University of Manchester, UK and is a Passed Finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Bank Financial Management, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK, and an Associate Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Sri Lanka.

Asoka Pieris
Non-Independent Non-Executive Director
Asoka Pieris
Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr. Asoka Pieris has wide and varied experience in the fields of finance, marketing and manufacturing both in Sri Lanka and overseas.

He is currently on the board of directors of Cargills (Ceylon) PLC and is the managing director of Cargills Retail (Private) Limited. He was previously CEO of the Singer Group of Companies and CFO of Singer Asia based in Hong Kong; he was also a director of the group’s Public Companies in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Mr. Pieris has held board positions in several other companies and has been a director of Hatton National Bank PLC and chairman of its Audit Committee.

He is an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, and a Certified Global Management Accountant.

Ravi Jayawardena
Independent, Non-Executive Director
Ravi Jayawardena
Independent, Non-Executive Director

Mr. Ravi Jayawardena has expertise in the areas of Human Resources, Marketing Management, Development of New Markets and General Management, in his present capacity as Group CEO of Maliban Biscuits (Private) Limited. He was previously the Coca Cola Sri Lanka Country Head of Sales, and prior to that served at Unilever Sri Lanka Ltd in various capacities in Customer Marketing, Brand Management and Modern Trade.

Mr. Jayawardena holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, and a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Shanti Gnanapragasam
Independent, Non-Executive Director
Shanti Gnanapragasam
Independent, Non-Executive Director

Ms. Shanti Gnanapragasam has over 40 years of extensive experience in the Banking industry, specializing in the fields of Credit, Risk Management, Banking Operations, Treasury, and Asset & Liability Management. She served as Vice President Group Risk Management/ Chief Risk Officer of National Development Bank PLC (NDB) at the time of her retirement in 2022. She had also served as Vice President Shared Services/ Operations & Trade Finance and as Vice President Credit/ Chief Credit Officer at NDB. Prior to that she had held the positions of Chief Risk Officer, and as Head of Treasury & Markets of Hatton National Bank PLC.

Ms. Gnanapragasam had also functioned as Group Treasurer of Hayleys PLC, Deputy Head of Treasury at People’s Bank Colombo and Director – Treasury, Country Treasurer & Local Head of Financial Markets Services at American Express Bank Ltd Colombo.

She has a First-Class Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology from the University of Madras, South India, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. Ms. Gnanapragasam also holds ACI Foreign Exchange Dealer Certification (from The Financial Markets Association Paris).

Arjuna Herath
Independent, Non-Executive Director
Arjuna Herath
Independent, Non-Executive Director

Mr. Arjuna Herath retired as the Senior Partner and Head of Consulting for Sri Lanka and Maldives at Ernst & Young (EY) and brings with him a wealth of experience across a wide range of sectors. He has served as a Board Member of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board and as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. Mr. Herath also served as a member of the Company Law Advisory Commission. Currently he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Colombo Stock Exchange and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several private sector companies.

Mr. Herath is a distinguished senior Chartered Accountant and is a past president of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colombo, MBA from the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom and a Master of Arts in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo.

Amendra De Silva
Company Secretary
Amendra De Silva
Company Secretary

Appointed as Company Secretary on 1 st May 2018, she counts over 20 years of experience in the Banking Industry. She is an attorney at law and holds a Diploma in Compliance from International Compliance Association. She has previously functioned as a Legal Officer at National Development Bank of Sri Lanka and as Manager- Legal (Corporate) at Hatton National Bank PLC. Prior to joining the Bank, she headed the Compliance Function at National Development Bank PLC.

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