Standard Chartered last Friday announced the appointment of its first Sri Lankan Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bingumal Thewarathanthri with effect from January 1, 2019.

He takes over from Jim McCabe, who retired at the end of 2018 following a four-year tenure in Sri Lanka since 2015.

Bingumal, better known as Bingu, counts for more than 20 years experience within the banking and finance industry. Bingu joined Standard Chartered in 2004. 

Over the past 14 years, he has held several leadership positions in Sri Lanka and Africa, including the role of Head, Transaction Banking, Mauritius, where he was responsible in setting up the Transaction Banking business. Mauritius being an International Financial Centre (IFC), he was focused on setting up the framework for the Regional Treasury Centre (RTC) platform for the country.

In April 2017, he took on the challenge as Head, Retail Banking, Sri Lanka where he delivered an impressive revenue growth elevating the business. He has been a key member of the Country Management Team of the franchise as well.

Commenting on the new appointment, Vietnam and ASA Cluster Markets CEO Nirukt Sapru said, “Standard Chartered has been in Sri Lanka for over 100 years, banking with many clients for generations. We are confident that Bingu, with his vast experience in banking, as well as a deep knowledge of the Sri Lankan business will effectively steer our Sri Lankan franchise to greater performance.”

Bingu holds a Master degree from the University of Wales and completed his high school education at Thurstan College Colombo 07.