Trade Finance Association of Bankers holds 25th AGM for 2022/2023

The Trade Finance Association of Bankers (TFAB) recently held its 25th Annual General Meeting at the Rainbow Room, Grand Oriental Hotel, Colombo. This year is significant as the TFAB celebrates its Silver Jubilee.

Trade Finance Association of Bankers’, which was formed in the year 1997, is the professional association bringing together bankers engaged in providing advice on trade finance solutions to its customer base.

The Membership comprises of personnel from almost all commercial banks operating in Sri Lanka and the office bearers fully reflect the diversity and breadth of its membership. The Association is backed by an eminent Advisory Committee comprising of four senior bankers and past TFAB Presidents A.

Kathiravelupillai (Inaugural President of TFAB and Former DGM -International of Bank of Ceylon), Michael Peiris (Former Head of Trade of Union Bank of Colombo PLC), Nilam Jumat (Former AGM – International of Hatton National Bank PLC), and Thushy David (Former Director, Head Global Subsidiary Coverage, Head of Trade and Cash Management Sales of Deutsche Bank).

Lawrian Somanader, Chief Manager – Heads of Exports at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC was unanimously elected as the President of the Association for the second consecutive year.

He said that the team would continue to focus on developing its membership by enhancing the professional knowledge and sharpening the skills of trade practitioners involved in Imports and Export business. Despite the current economic crisis and the highly volatile exchange rate, International Trade will continue to grow in importance as businesses and banks view this segment as the key contributor to their overall performance.

Office-bearers:

President – Lawrian Somanader – Chief Manager, Exports, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC

Senior Vice President – Rochelle Fernando – Assistant General Manager – Trade Services – Bank of Ceylon

Vice President – Shyam De Silva – Senior Manager Operations, Centralized Trade Processing – Hatton National Bank PLC

Secretary General – K.R. Naguleswaran – Assistant Vice President, Correspondent Banking and Remittances – DFCC Bank PLC

Treasurer – Kasun Muthukuda – Manager, Trade Services – Nations Trust Bank PLC

Assistant Secretary – Indika Liyanage – Senior Manager, Trade Services – Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC

Assistant Treasurer – Kanchana De Silva – Senior Manager – Trade Operations – Union Bank of Colombo PLC,

Council Members: Gaya Manamperi (Formerly at Sampath Bank PLC), Manjula Gunawardana (NDB Bank PLC), Susantha Weerasinghe (People’s Bank), Tharinda Amarasinghe (Sampath Bank PLC), Niranjan Dabare (Deutsche Bank AG), K. K Susantha (Bank of Ceylon), Halin Hettigoda (Sampath Bank PLC), Shaariz Zabith (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited), Dilan Wijegoonawardhana (Seylan Bank PLC), Shehani Peter (Standard Chartered Bank), Eranda Weerakoon (Doha Bank), Harsha Silva (Citi Bank N.A.), Mahesha Hassan (Public Bank)

Immediate Past President: A. S. M. W. Kumarasiri (Assistant General Manager, Trade Finance, People’s Bank)