Top academic to lead ComBank Board

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has announced the appointment of top academic Prof. A. K. W. Jayawardane as Chairman, and accomplished international investment banker Sharhan Muhseen as Deputy Chairman effective Tuesday, 1^st March 2022.

Prof. Jayawardane, previously Deputy Chairman of the Bank, succeeds former Chief Justice K. Sripavan as Chairman following the completion of the latter’s term, while Mr. Muhseen fills the vacancy created by Prof. Jayawardane’s elevation to the position of Chairman, Sri Lanka’s largest private sector bank said in a media release.

Prof. Jayawardane, who has been an Independent Non-Executive Director of Commercial Bank since April 2015 and Deputy Chairman since 29^th December 2020, is one of Sri Lanka’s most-respected senior academics in the field of engineering and is an academic administrator. He is currently the Chairman of CBC Tech Solutions, a subsidiary of the Commercial Bank and the Chairman of the Board Tech Committee.

A Commission Member of the University Grants Commission and a Senior Professor in Civil Engineering, Prof. Jayawardane served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa for six years, as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering for six years as an Endowed Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Moratuwa for one year and as the Director General of National Science Foundation for two years.

Mr. Muhseen is a senior Investment Banker with extensive experience in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets. He has served in a senior capacity working with company boards and senior leadership teams of financial institutions across Asia to help drive their Strategic Corporate Agendas and Roadmaps.

Mr. Muhseen’s most immediate previous role was as Managing Director, Head of South East Asia Financial Institutions Group (FIG) and Head of Asia Insurance at Credit Suisse based in Singapore. In his Investment Banking career spanning over 20 years, Mr. Muhseen has completed landmark mergers and capital raising transactions in excess of USD 100 billion.