Acuity Partners

Acuity-Logo-2021

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Damith Pallewatte

Chairman

Damith Pallewatte is the Deputy General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group of Hatton National Bank PLC.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Management from the London School of Economics. He is also a qualified Financial Risk Manager of the Global Association of Risk Professionals as well as holding the ACI qualification.

Ray Abeywardena

Managing Director/Group CEO

Ray Abeywardena is the Managing Director of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd. He has been associated with Sri Lanka’s capital markets for over 30 years, primarily as a Stockbroker and since 2009 as an Investment Banker. Before being appointed as Managing Director/CEO of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd he served as the Managing Director/CEO of Acuity Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd from 2001 to the end 2008. Mr. Abeywardena is the Chairman of Acuity Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd, Acuity Securities Ltd, the Colombo Stock Exchange and the Central Depository Systems Ltd. He is the Chairman of Guardian Acuity Asset Management Ltd, Lanka Ventures PLC, Lanka Energy Fund Ltd, Softlogic Insurance PLC & ANCL.

Mr. Abeywardena is a past Chairman of the Colombo Stockbrokers Association, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wales.

Thimal Perera

Director

Mr. Thimal Perera is the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DFCC Bank PLC, Sri Lanka.

He is also the Chairman of DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Ltd, Acuity Partners Limited and Lanka Industrial Estates Ltd and serves as a Director of Synapsys Limited, Lanka Ventures PLC and LVL Energy Fund PLC and is also a Director of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).

He has held several senior positions in banking and has over 3 decades of experience in the financial services sector, both locally and internationally having been with the HSBC Group, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Barclays Bank PLC and was at HNB prior to joining DFCC.

He is a Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) – UK.

Rajive Dissanayake

Director

Mr. Rajive Dissanayake counts nearly two decades of experience covering banking sector and capital markets.  He currently serves as the Deputy General Manager -SME & Microfinance of Hatton National Bank PLC and has previously held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC, being part of the bank’s corporate management team for over 8 years.  In addition to being on the Board of Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd, he also serves as a director of Lanka Venture PLC, Lanka Energy Fund PLC and National Credit Guarantee Institute.   Mr Dissanayake is the Chairman of HNB Finance PLC.

 

Mr Dissanayake is a CFA Charterholder, Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colombo.

Sanjay Wijemanne

Director

Sanjay is the Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME at Hatton National Bank PLC and manages the areas of Personal Financial Services (Leasing, Pawning, Personal and Housing Loans), Credit Cards, Sales & Business Development, Digital Banking, Network Management, Deposit Mobilization, Marketing Communications, Customer Service, Club & Priority Banking, Inward Remittances & Exchange House Relationships and Bank Assurance. He has a B.Sc in Business & Finance from Mount Saint Mary’s University, USA. He also serves as a Director of HNB General Insurance Ltd.
He commenced his career with Ceylinco Securities & Financial Services and then joined HNB as a Management Trainee/Executive. Thereafter, he joined HSBC where he held different positions such as Vice President – Custody & Clearing, Head of Sales, Head of Branches including Premier Banking, Branch Manager – Kollupitiya Branch/Manager Premier Centre.
Sanjaya thereafter joined Standard Chartered Bank and held positions of Head of Retail Banking, General Manager –Premium Banking Branch Sales & Services and General Manager – Value Centre.

Sohantha Wijesingha

Director

Sohantha Wijesingha is currently the Senior Vice President/Head of Corporate Banking at DFCC Bank PLC. He oversees the various integral factions of Corporate Banking at DFCC, including advanced lending and deposit products, superior customer service, and the state of the art Payments & Cash Management System, DFCC iConnect.

Sohantha is a career banker bringing three decades of unparalleled experience and possesses knowledge encompassing Branch Banking, Trade Finance, Payments & Cash Management and Institutional and Commercial Banking.

Before DFCC Bank he has 22 years of service at HSBC Sri Lanka, where he held senior management positions such as Head of Financial Institutions where he was instrumental in leading and arranging one of the largest loan syndications for a local bank at that time. As Head of Payments & Cash Management he led the team to achieve the Euromoney Award for Best Cash Management Bank for 3 years. And as Head of International Subsidiary Banking and Head Of Corporate Banking he was instrumental in concluding landmark deals and strengthening key corporate relationships. In addition, he has also held responsibilities as relief cover for Country Manager Maldives and as Acting Head of Wholesale Banking at HSBC.
Sohanthä is an Associate of the Institute of Bankers’ of Sri Lanka (AIB).

Kushan Jayasuriya

Director

Kushan Jayasuriya counts over 24 years of experience in the banking sector including branch banking, credit management, planning and risk management in 2 leading banks in the country. He currently holds the position of Senior Vice President Integrated Risk Management / Chief risk Officer DFCC Bank PLC. Prior to joining DFCC he functioned as Head of Risk – Operations and Markets counting over 10 years of experience in market risk management.

Mr Jayasuriya holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Colombo and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Colombo. He has obtained the status of ACI and the status of Chartered Global Management Accountant and is an Associate of the Chartered Management Accountant.

Mr. David Nigel Bartholomeusz

Independent / Non-Executive Director

Mr. Bartholomeusz is an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic.with over 28 years’ experience having taken his oaths in 1994.

He practiced as an Attorney-at-Law in the Chambers of Mr. K. Kang-Isvaran President’s Counsel for over 14 years, prior to which he simultaneously completed a year of apprenticeship under Mr. Kanag-Isvaran President’s Counsel, and with the Attorney General’s Office Department.

In 2008, Mr. Bartholomeusz set up his own Chambers and practices in the Appellate and Original Court in Corporate Law, Commercial Law, Insurance, Telecommunications Law, Intellectual Property, and Banking and Finance Law.  He also advises on International  Financial  Investments, International Trade, Joint Venture Contracts and Shareholder Agreements etc.  Mr. Bartholomeusz also acts as Counsel in Arbitrations including construction arbitrations, mediations and negotiations. 

He was appointed to the Board of Union Bank PLC. as an Alternate Director to H.R.H. Prince Faisal Al Abdullah Al Faisal Al Saud in December 2008 and was a Director until August 2014.   He is also a Director of Associated Electrical Corporation Limited, AEC Properties (Pvt.) Limited and Environmental Foundation (Guarantee) Limited a not for profit company engaged in fostering environmental protection in Sri Lanka