Gunatunge re-elected at Sampath

Edgar Gunatunge has been re-elected as a director of Sampath Bank and will continue as the chairman following the Bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, despite some moves by shareholders to oust him.

At the AGM, Denzil Gunaratne, a director, spoke on Gunatunge’s meritorious service to the bank in urging his re-election, according to shareholders present. “Only one shareholder, widely believed to be a former employee of the bank, voted against the resolution to re-elect Gunatunge,” a shareholder said.

On April 30, Sampath Bank issued a circular to its shareholders quoting a requisition by some shareholders requesting Gunatunge to either withdraw from re-election or be voted against.

The shareholders in the requisition had pointed out that in the Mandatory Code of Governance issued by the Central Bank, it is stipulated that directors of banks should be less than 70 years, not serve in more than 20 companies and that their service on a particular bank board should not be more than nine years.