Following the demise of Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) Chairman Nilantha De Silva, the bank yesterday announced the appointment of banking veteran Aruni Goonetilleke as the new Chairperson, who was appointed to HNB’s board as a Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director on April 1, 2021.

HNB yesterday informed the demise of De Silva, who was appointed as the bank’s Chairman, with effect from July 5, 2021.

Goonetilleke is a financial services expert, with over 25 years of experience in regional financial markets. She has extensive experience in enterprise risk management, credit, audit and business origination and has held leadership positions in local and international banks. Her last role was Head of Corporate Banking at People’s Bank, where she was responsible for a large portfolio of public and private sector clients.  

Immediately prior to that, she was Head of Credit for Commercial Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore. She has also held the positions of Head of Credit for SME at Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore, Chief Risk Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka and Global Audit roles in Wholesale and Retail Bank and Distressed Assets Management at Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore. 

She has a Masters in Law from Harvard Law School, Harvard University, USA and a Bachelors in Law (Honours) from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo.

She was a visiting lecturer in law at the University of Colombo. She is on the boards of several public listed companies in Sri Lanka.

Currently Goonetilleke holds the positions of Non-Executive/Independent Director of Tea Small Holder Factories PLC, Sunshine Holdings PLC and Softlogic Finance PLC.

Meanwhile, HNB also announced the appointment of Devaka Cooray as Senior Independent Director, with immediate effect, in keeping with the Central Bank governance regulations.