Mr. Lasantha Fernando
Chairman
Regional Development Bank (RDB), the state owned premier development bank in the country announced the appointment of Lasantha Fernando as its 9th chairman on 01st November 2024 onwards.
Mr. Fernando, a career banker with over 35 years of industry experience having previously served at the Hatton National Bank PLC Sri Lanka, as a Deputy General Manager, Development banking, with the role encompassing SME, Micro Finance, Rural & Agri. finance, developed strategic plans , closely monitoring the performance and motivating team members to consistently exceed performance targets.
As DGM Recoveries at HNB, adopted a “Hands on” approach working closely with the regions, managers, field and branch staff, leading, directing and motivating them to achieve goals and expectations. A stint at Lakshmi Bank, Kathmandu, Nepal as Deputy General Manager on Secondment from HNB under a Technical service agreement between the two banks. He also served in the board of the Banks subsidiary Sithma Development (Pvt) Ltd. and Associate, Splender Media (Pvt)Ltd. Post retirement under took short term assignments for Asian Development Bank (ADB), vision Fund Lanka & Sejaya micro Credit Ltd. in the areas of SME & micro finance respectively. He served as an independent director in a Non – executive capacity at Richard Pieris Finance Ltd., also as chairman of the Board Audit Committee and Chairman of the Board Integrated Risk Committee.
He has been in general retail and corporate banking in various capacities gathering experience in many areas of activity, ranging from credit, credit administration, branch bank management and Head office credit functions. Also a Branch Manager in several branches in rural, semi urban and urban areas. Also instrumental in creating linkages and market opportunities for micro entrepreneurs using the bank’s network of clients and also assisting in the gradual enhancement in the capacity of enterprises to reach SME and even corporate status.
He holds a Diploma in Bank Management, is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers (FIB) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) University of Colombo. He is a distinguished old boy of both St.Thomas College, Mount Lavinia and Royal College, Colombo.