Mr. Chandula Abeywickrema
Chairman
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board as a NonExecutive Independent Director with effect from 26th June 2019 and serves as the Chairman of PMF Finance PLC.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience: He is a global expert on Financial Inclusion, Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing. He is the current Chairman of the Banking with The Poor Network (BWTP), Asia’s Largest Microfinance Network and also an advisor on financial inclusion to the Asian Bankers Association (ABA). He is also leader representing Asia for the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investing and he is regularly invited to major international forums and conferences to speak as a keynote speaker in the areas of development banking, financial inclusion and impact investing and has served on a number of Boards of Financial Institutions, both locally and internationally. He is the Chairman of CSR Sri Lanka the national apex body for Corporate Social Responsibility, representing the largest number of private sector companies, and the Chairman of Lanka Financial Services for Underserved Settlements, a public and private sector collaborated credit guarantee fund to support low-income housing finance. He also serves as a board member of World Vision Lanka and Continental Insurance Lanka Limited.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Special) degree from the University of Kelaniya, a Diploma in Marketing from the National University of Singapore, Training in Leadership Strategies at Ashridge University, UK, Finance & Banking in South East Asia conducted by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarships, Tokyo, Japan, and has studied Corporate Management Strategy at the University of Melbourne. He has also completed a programme on Advanced Leadership strategies at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Current Appointments: He is the Co-Founder of ‘Ath Pavura’ the first-ever TV reality show for Social Entrepreneurs and Impact Investors in Sri Lanka, telecasted on the largest national TV network, and also the Founder and Chairman of Lanka Impact Investing Network (Private) Ltd (LIIN), Sri Lanka’s very first impact investing firm focused on channeling private equity funds with the purpose of investing and providing business development support to nurture a well-developed ecosystem of social entrepreneurs across the country. He also Chairs the National Advisory Board for Impact Investing in Sri Lanka (NABIISL).
Former Appointments: An accomplished and well respected senior commercial banker with lead expertise and experience in retail and development banking, Mr. Abeywickrema has a proven track record of over 35 years and is recognized in Asia as an expert in Financial Inclusion. As Deputy General Manager – Retail & Development Banking, he spearheaded the retail and development banking strategy which provided management and strategic direction in steering HNB’s SME and Microfinance portfolios to greater heights. During his tenure, HNB was named the best retail bank in Sri Lanka by Asia Money for 7 consecutive years, until his retirement in 2013 after serving the bank for 25 years. Subsequently, he served as the Managing Director/ CEO of CCC Solutions, the project management arm of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce from 2014 to 2015 and as the Consultant- Strategy and Marketing for National Savings Bank (NSB) from 2016 to 2017.
Membership of Board Sub-committees: He serves as the Chairman of the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee, Credit Committee, Related Party Transactions Review Committee, Nominations Committee, Human Resources and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Board Audit Committee.