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THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED PROFESSIONAL MANAGERS OF SRI LANKA
JANUARY 2021
Mr Sivakrishnarajah Renganathan is a senior
banker who has served Commercial Bank
throughout the entirety of his working career.
He was appointed as the Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer in July 2018.
Mr. Renganathan has held several key
positions in the Bank and been deeply
involved in its evolution and growth. In July
2003, he led the Bank’s acquisition of the
Bangladesh operations of Credit Agricole
Indosuez (CAI), Commercial Bank’s first ever
acquisition of a banking operation, and was
appointed Country Manager – Bangladesh, in
which capacity he led a team of 225 over a five Executive Member of The Council for Business
year tenure, building up the Bank’s operations with Britain.
in Bangladesh.
On his return to Sri Lanka from Bangladesh,
Mr. Renganathan was appointed the Bank’s
first Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and was
responsible for preparing and implementing
the Bank’s integrated risk management
policy. In April 2011, he was appointed to the
pivotal position of Deputy General Manager
– Personal Banking in charge of the entire
branch network of the Bank.
Mr. Renganathan is a Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Management Accountants, UK
(FCMA), Chartered Global Management
Accountant (CGMA), Fellow of the London
Institute of Banking and Finance, UK (FLIBF),
Fellow of the Institute of Bankers Sri Lanka
(FIB), and a Member of Sri Lanka Institute of
Directors.
He is also an associate member of Financial
Services Institute of Australasia. He has
received extensive Leadership, Management
and Banking training in the USA, London,
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Japan, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, India and many
other countries.
Mr. Renganathan currently serves as
the Managing Director of Commercial
Development Company PLC, Deputy
Chairman of Commercial Bank of Maldives
(Pvt) Ltd., Director of Lanka Financial Services
Bureau Ltd., Director of Sri Lanka Bank’s
Association (Guarantee) Ltd., Vice Chairman
of International Chamber of Commerce Sri
Lanka, Executive Member of The Ceylon
Chamber of Commerce, Council Member
of Employers’ Federation of Ceylon and an
He has served among others, as a Member of
the General Council of the Institute of Bankers
of Bangladesh, as founder President of the Sri
Lanka Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and Executive Committee member of
the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
With his extensive knowledge in the banking
and finance sector, he enlightened us on
this subject. Here are excerpts from the
interview:
Please explain the impact of COVID- 19
on the Banking sector?
Ours is an economy which is heavily
dependent on foreign inflows, hence
weakening of global economy due to the
pandemic affected almost all key sectors.
As a financial intermediary Banking sector is
also experiencing the strain of these negative
economic conditions, given that most of the
thrust sectors such as apparel, tourism and