Veteran banker Theagarajah to lead First Capital Holdings

Veteran banker Rajendra Theagarajah is geared up to lead First Capital Holdings PLC, a member of the Janashakthi group, as Chairman, along with key appointees to the board.

First Capital yesterday announced that Theagarajah would be joined by Inoshini Perera, Rachini Rajapaksa and Dilendra Wimalasekere as board members.

The appointment of the industry veteran follows the distinguished tenure of Nishan Fernando, who served as Chairman. Additionally, these new appointments come after the retirement of long-standing Independent Non-Executive Director Chandana de Silva. 

“I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with such an energetic and experienced leadership team and a dedicated pool of employees. Together, we will realise First Capital’s strategic vision and achieve new levels of success,” said Theagarajah.

With these appointments, the board of directors of First Capital Holdings PLC comprises Rajendra Theagarajah (Chairman), Manjula Mathews (Deputy Chairperson), Dilshan Wirasekara (Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer), Ramesh Schaffter, Kuda Herath, Inoshini Perera, Rachini Rajapaksa and Dilendra Wimalasekere.

Rajendra Theagarajah  

Theagarajah has had a highly successful career in banking in both the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. Over his 36-year career, he spent the last 16 years as CEO of three licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka, making significant contributions towards policy advocacy issues such as the Corporate Governance Framework for Banks, Basel III adoption and Fair Value Accounting by Banks. During this period, he chaired the Sri Lanka Banks Association, Asian Banks Association and Lanka Financial Services Bureau. He is a member of the Stakeholders Engagement Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Theagarajah is also a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Pathfinder Foundation, a leading think tank in Sri Lanka.

Inoshini Perera 

Perera has served as Vice President in Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory at Bank of America in the UK and held senior roles such as Associate Director at KPMG in Singapore and Standard Chartered Bank in Sri Lanka. Perera is currently an Independent Consultant and Board Director at Verité Research. 

Rachini Rajapaksa 

Rajapaksa currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Nations Trust Bank PLC, the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board, Asset Machinery & Equipment (Pvt.) Ltd, Asset Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd and Lanka Bond House Ltd. She also acts as an Advisory Committee Member of the Tennyson and Vinitha Rodrigo Trust.

Dilendra Wimalasekere 

Wimalasekere is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in building and running IT services and digital marketing businesses. He is the Founder of three Sri Lankan-based companies: Eureka Technology Partners, 24/7 Techies and ReapDigital, all of which leverage technology to provide services globally.