SLAAA is the official Alumni Association of Australian Awards Recipients in Sri Lanka recognised and supported by the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka.
03. What is SLAAA?
Kanishka is a CISSP -Certified Information Systems Security Professional, CISA -Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and has been involved in handling many security incidents and designing secure networks in both government and private sector. He is primarily focused at IT Security Policy adaptations for government departments in addition to conducting vulnerability assessments and incident handling related work at CERT. He has more than 9 years of experience in IT Security . As part of information security awareness activities, he serves as the secretary of the local (ISC)2 chapter named (ISC)2 Sri Lanka Chapter. Kanishka has a B.Sc. Degree in Science from the University of Colombo and an M.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Kelaniya.
Commencing her career at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, she has served in the Banking Supervision Department for over 15 years and rose to the position of Deputy Director Banking Supervision. She has also been attached to the Finance Department of the CBSL as Deputy Chief Accountant. While at Banking Supervision Department, Ms Godellawatta has headed its Policy Division and the Examination Division.
Thereafter she has been the Head Of Compliance of ICICI Bank, Sri Lanka Branch and Head of Compliance for Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka, handling regulatory compliance and AML Compliance.
She is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK, and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenapura. She also holds an International Diploma in Compliance from the International Compliance Association, UK. She has undergone extensive training in Banking regulation and Compliance including overseas training.
Tilak Piyadigama possesses 29 years of experience in Banking and Technology industries and spent major part of his career in senior management roles in Singapore, UAE, UK and Sri Lanka with Standard Chartered Bank and now with Nations Trust Bank in Sri Lanka. His professional experience spans across Technology, Digital Transformation, Banking Operations, Operational Risk, Client Service, and Strategy.
CHAIRMAN – JUNIOR BAR OF SRI LANKA
Maduka Perera is currently practicing as an Attorney-at-Law at G. G. Arulpragasam Associates which is a law chamber that specialises in all branches of civil law. He is the incumbent Chairman of the Junior Bar of Sri Lanka and also serves as the Convener of the Professional Purposes Committee (Disciplinary Committee) of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. Prior to becoming a Lawyer, Maduka worked at Asia Capital PLC as a Senior Investment Analyst and continues as a freelance Investment Banker along with his legal practice.
Maduka holds a double Masters Degree in Financial Analysis and International Business from the La Trobe University in Australia. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting (Special) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He has obtained his Attorney-at-Law qualification from Sri Lanka Law College. Maduka won the coveted Australia Leadership Scholarship in 2012 and was admitted to the Golden Key International Honour Society in 2013.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
NDB ZEPHYR PARTNERS LANKA (PVT) LIMITED
Senaka Kakiriwaragodage is the Managing Director of NDB Zephyr Partners Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a private equity management company in Sri Lanka. Senaka has over 14 years of experience including 12 years with the NDB Group and has exposure in areas such as Investment Banking, Equity Management, Financial Analysis and Modeling, Project Financing, Advisory Services, Capital Market Operations, and Portfolio Management. He is also a Director of JAT Holdings (Private) Limited, Cleanline Linen Management Limited and Idea Group Limited. Senaka has a B.Sc. (First Class) in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Moratuwa and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Manchester. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Fellow Member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants – UK.
PROGRAM MANAGER
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AGENCY SRI LANKA
Sachindra Samararatne has been part of the industry development program of ICTA for 8+ years. He is currently the Program Manager of a very dynamic team which implements projects around overseas business development, tech startup acceleration, high end technology skill training etc. He has been engaged with analysts such as ATKEARNEY and GARTNER and is engaged in branding Sri Lanka as a technology hub. He has a Master’s in Business Administration, Bachelors in Information Technology and a Bachelors in Business Administration. He is also a Microsoft Certified Professional.
HEAD OF COMPLIANCE
STANDARD CHARTED BANK
Joined SCB in 2013 after a 26 year stint with HSBC. He has experience in many functions with 12 years in management /senior management roles in Consumer Banking, Operations, Learning & Development, Internal Control, Operational Risk and Compliance. He has also exposure to Finance, Treasury Operations and Management Information Systems. As Head of Compliance, he is the Risk Owner for Compliance/FCC risks and a member of the Country Management and Risk & Governance Committees.
He holds a Diploma in Banking from the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka and has undergone extensive leadership and technical training in UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.
AVP COMPLIANCE
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANK
Manique is the Assistant Vice President – Compliance of National Development Bank PLC. Immediately after taking oaths as an Attorney at Law she joined National Development Bank of Sri Lanka as a management trainee in December 1997. She earned her bachelor of Law degree from the Law Faculty, University of Colombo.
Prior to being appointed as the Compliance Officer she worked in the Legal Department of the Bank where she provided legal support in the areas of lending, investment banking, structuring transactions, fund raising, Labour related investigations and advising on banking regulation and exchange control related matters. She served as Company Secretary to the Boards of several subsidiaries at NDB during the period 2009 – 2013. She was also actively involved in developing the corporate governance framework in place at the bank. As the Compliance Officer she is currently accountable for the team which manages the AML and regulatory risk of NDB.
GROUP CEO
NDB CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN OF THE COLOMBO STOCK EXCHANGE &
SOUTH ASIAN FEDERATION OF EXCHANGES
Mr. Vajira Kulatilaka holds a BSc. In Civil Engineering with a First Class Honors from the University of Moratuwa and a MSc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. He is also a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) and has obtained Fellow Memberships of the Charted Institute of Management Accountants, UK.
He counts over 33 years of experience in Banking and Finance and Capital Market operations in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the NDB Group, Mr. Kulatilaka has served in key strategic positions in a number of high profile organisations in Sri Lanka including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Sampath Bank.
Mr. Kulatilaka has been at the helm of NDB Investment Banking Cluster since 2003 and was instrumental in bringing the company to the leadership position it commands today. He has introduced a number of innovative financial products to the country and also, was adjudged the “Best Investment Banking CEO Sri Lanka” in 2014 and 2015 by Global Banking and Finance Review in recognition of his contribution to the investment banking field in Sri Lanka. Mr. Kulatilaka also served as the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2017 and the Chairman of the South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE) from 2015 to 2017. Mr. Kulatilaka is also a council member of the University of Moratuwa. Mr. Kulatilaka currently serves as a director in NDB Investment Bank Limited, NDB Wealth Management Limited, NDB Securities (Private) Limited, NDB Zephyr Partners Limited, NDB Zephyr Partners Lanka (Private) Limited and Resus Energy PLC.
HEAD OF IT – SECURITY & COMPLIANCE
LOLC TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
Parakum Pathirana holds a PhD from Management and Science University, Malaysia and M.Sc. in Internet Engineering from the University of East London, United Kingdom. He is also a fellow member of the British Computer Society (FMBCS). He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT), a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), an ISO 27001 LA and also possess the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK).
He is currently working as the Head of IT Security & Compliance for Lanka ORIX Information Technology Services, functions as a Principal Consultant for LOLC Technologies Limited and a co-founder of the payment startup “iPay.lk”. Further, Parakum serves on the board of the Sri Lankan ISACA chapter as the immediate past President, founding member of the local ISC2 chapter, Assistant Treasurer at Computer Society of Sri Lanka, and a Board Member at ICT Skills Council.
Under Parakum’s leadership, ISACA Sri Lanka chapter was selected for the 2016 K. Wayne Snipes Award as the Regional Winner for the Best Medium Chapter in Asia. Parakum’s research interests include social media and the financial sector, mobile payments and has authored number of publications on both local and International journals. In 2014, Parakum received the acclaimed Information Security Practitioner category award at (ISC)² Asia-Pacific Information Security Leadership Achievements (ISLATM) awards, in Hong Kong.
HEAD – CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT
CITI BANK
Shahan is a banker with 20 years of experience with 2 Multinational Banks. He has worked in many areas, namely Operations, Relationship Management, Credit Risk Management and Learning and Development. He is also a freelance lecturer and corporate trainer. A product of St. Joseph’s College Colombo 10. He is a Fellow member of CIMA (UK), CGMA, CPA (Australia), CMA (Sri Lanka) and AAT (Sri Lanka). He is also an Associate member of CIM (UK).
GROUP DIRECTOR/ CEO
CICRA HOLDINGS
Boshan is the Group Director/CEO, CICRA Holdings – Sri Lanka’s pioneering information security training, certification and consultancy organisation. During the past five years, Boshan has represented Sri Lanka as a Cyber Security Panelist at ‘Pacific Senior Communicators Meeting’, an annual gathering of the senior military communication professionals from each of the Pacific Endeavour participant nations on the invitation from the United States Pacific Command, in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Australia and in Silicon Valley, USA this year. Being a Cyber Security Evangelist, Boshan has promoted commencement of Sri Lanka’s first Bachelor’s Degree in Cyber Security in partnership of Deakin University, Australia.
Boshan has an MBA from the University of Colombo. He also has a degree in Business Management from University of Colombo, ACIM-UK, and Diploma in Sports Science from Hungarian University of Physical Education . Boshan was Sri Lanka’s number one Tennis player during 1995/96.
CHIEF REGULATORY OFFICER
COLOMBO STOCK EXCHANGE
Renuke counts over 24 years of service at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). As the Chief Regulatory Officer, he is responsible for the regulatory functions of the CSE, which includes Listing, Broker Supervision, Corporate Affairs and Trading & Market Surveillance. He is also responsible regarding the rule making process of the CSE.
Renuke is an Attorney-at-Law with a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) (Hon.) Degree from University of Colombo.
GRC & CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONAL
DIRECTOR/ LAYERS-7 SEGURO CONSULTORIA PRIVATE LIMITED
Sujit Christy is a governance, risk, compliance and cybersecurity professional, a passionate cybersecurity adoption evangelist and a Director with Layers-7 Seguro Consultoria Private Limited. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in Risk and Information System Control (CRISC), a certified IT Disaster Recovery Professional and a Diploma in Cyber Law.
He comes from a business/industry, governance, risk & compliance background and counts over 20 years of experience in Financial & Information System Auditing, ERP Implementation, Governance, Risk Management, Compliance, Information and Cybersecurity Consulting.
Sujit is a regular invited speaker in security conferences and seminars. He is a resource person at the Center for Banking Studies, Central Bank of Sri Lanka and CA Sri Lanka for the DISSCA Program. He is also a past visiting lecturer at the Department of Criminology, University of Madras and the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
Sujit is the founding member, the charter secretary and past president of the (ISC)2 Chennai Chapter. He currently serves as a Board Member of (ISC)2 Colombo Chapter and ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter. He is also the founder/President of Information Security Professional Associates (iSPA) and a past Supervisor for the (ISC)2 exams in India and Sri Lanka.
Sujit is a volunteer with the (ISC)2 Foundation – Making the Cyber World a Safer Place for Everyone and pioneered the delivery of Safe and Secure Online programs in India and Sri Lanka. Winner of the 2013 (ISC)2 President’s award, and Honoree in the Information Security Practitioner Category for Information Security Leadership Achievements (ISLA), in the Asia Pacific Region
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT
THE CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA
CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER- ASIA PACIFIC REGION
OPTIVER – AUSTRALIA
Anatoly has a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours in Finance and a Master of Law and Management from UNSW. He started his career with the Reserve Bank of Australia in financial markets research, liquidity forecasting and dealing support and compliance areas. He moved to HSBC where he provided compliance coverage for global markets, debt capital markets, asset management, custody & clearing, and personal financial services. Prior to joining Optiver in May 2017, he was with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch for 7 years, most recently as Head of Compliance in Australia.
In his current role as the Chief Compliance Officer for Optiver in the Asia-Pacific region with responsibility for the establishment of the compliance framework covering Optiver Asia Pacific’s activities across the markets in which it operates.
Anatoly has been an adjunct academic at the University of New South Wales since 2000 across undergraduate, masters and MBA programs, with a focus on risk management and corporate governance. He taught extensively across financial markets & institutions, international business finance, real estate finance, corporate governance and risk management for financial institutions.
GRC PUNDIT – USA
Michael Rasmussen is an internationally recognized pundit on governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) – with specific expertise on the topics of enterprise GRC, GRC technology, corporate compliance, and policy management. With 25+ years of experience, Michael helps organizations improve GRC processes, design and implement GRC architecture, and select technologies that are effective, efficient, and agile. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, author, and advisor and is noted as the “Father of GRC” — being the first to define and model the GRC market in February 2002 while at Forrester. Michael has contributed to U.S. Congressional reports and committees, and currently serves on the Leadership Council of the OCEG and chairs the OCEG Technology Council, OCEG Policy Management Group, and the OCEG GRC Architect Group. Michael is quoted extensively in the press and is respected for his commentary on broadcast news channels. He is an Honorary Life Member in The Institute of Risk Management for his contributions to risk management and GRC. In June 2007, Treasury & Risk recognized Michael as one of the 100 most influential people in finance with specific accolades noting his work in “Governance and Compliance: Saving the Planet and the Corporation” and as a “Rising Star in Rocky Times: Corporate America’s Outstanding Executives.”
Prior to founding GRC 20/20 Research, Michael was a Vice-President and ’Top Analyst’ at Forrester Research, Inc. Before Forrester, he led the risk/compliance consulting practice at a professional services firm, and prior to that has specific experience managing compliance and risk within commercial organizations. Michael’s educational experience consists of a Juris Doctorate in law and a Bachelor of Science in Business. Michael is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School with a research focus in ethics and church history. He is a GRCP (GRC Professional), CCEP (Certified Compliance and Ethic Professional), and a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional). OCEG has recognized him as an OCEG Fellow for his contributions and advancement of GRC practices around the world.
