MMBL-PATHFINDER - Key Persons
In a career spanning 37 years, Mr. M. D. D. Pieris, as a member of the then Ceylon Civil Service and thereafter, The Sri Lanka Administrative Service, held numerous senior positions in Government, including those of Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives; Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Home Affairs; and Education and Higher Education.
He had also at various times, in addition to his duties, been a Chairman, a Director or member of the Council of over 25 Corporations, other Statutory Institutions, Universities and Post Graduate Institutes.
He has been Chairman of two Presidential Committees and a member of two Presidential Commissions, one relating to Finance and Banking and the other relating to Public Sector salaries.
Since his retirement from the Public Service, he holds various positions in the private sector including that of Deputy Chairman, Mercantile Merchant Bank Limited. He also still assists many public institutions in various capacities.
A graduate in History and post graduate in International Relations, Mr Bernard Goonetilleke spent nearly four decades promoting Sri Lanka's tourism, trade and investment abroad as an officer of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service. He took over the post of chairmanship of Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in August 2008 and later was appointed as Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau with effect from November and December 2008, respectively until February 2010.
His career as a Foreign Service officer began in 1970 and has included postings to Sri Lanka diplomatic missions in Kuala Lumpur, New York, Bangkok, Washington D.C., Geneva and Beijing. He has held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ending as Director General (Multilateral Affairs) (1997-2000), and Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-2004).
During his career, he served as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva (1992-1997), during which period he was concurrently accredited to the Holy See and as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Vienna . Later he served as Sri Lanka 's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (2000-2003), during which assignment he was concurrently accredited as Ambassador to the People's Republic of Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea . He also served as Acting Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York (2004-2005) and ended his diplomatic career as Ambassador to the United States of America (2005-2008).
Following the Signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002, he was appointed as Director General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) and functioned as a member of the government negotiating team.
Since May 2010 he functions as director of several companies associated with Mercantile Merchant Bank (MMBL), and Chairperson of Pathfinder Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Management Accountant
- Group Director / C E O
Mr. K. Balasundaram is a qualified Management Accountant, with 45 years of experience in the field of Finance of which 36 years has been in the capacity of a Director/ Senior Executive. His experience spans different businesses, including manufacturing and service industries, Public Quoted Companies, Statutory Bodies and BOI Investment companies. Presently, he is the Chief Executive Officer of MMBL-Pathfinder Group of Companies and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of all Mercantile Merchant Bank and Pathfinder Group of Companies, and Mountain Hawk Express (Private) Limited (Joint venture with Hayleys, MMBL Money Transfer (Private) Ltd.(Joint Venture with Aitken Spence, Intertek Lanka Ltd.(Joint Venture with Intertek UK), Saffron Aviation Private Limited (Joint Venture with John Keells) , and Energizer Lanka Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Senior Partner and Country Head
Mr. Rajan Asirwatham was the Senior Partner and Country Head of KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton & Company from 2001 to 2008.
Further,he was the Chairman of PERC, the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon and the Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Sustainable Tourism Project funded by the World Bank for the Ministry of Tourism and was also a member of the Presidential Commission on Taxation, appointed by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka.
As at present, Mr. Asirwatham, a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, is the Chairman of the Financial Services Stability Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka . He is also a member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Advisory Council and a member of the council of the University of Colombo .
He also serves on the Boards of Vallibel One Limited, Ceylon Tea Services PLC, Browns Beach Hotels PLC, Royal Ceramics PLC, Dial Tex Industries (Pvt) Limited, Renuka Hotels (Pvt) Limited, CIC Holdings PLC, Rajawella Holdings (Pvt) Limited, Mercantile Merchant Bank and Yarl Hotels (Pvt) Limited.
Job Titles:
- President
- President of Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd
Mrs Y.N. Perera is the President of Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd. She possesses 44 years of experience in management of private sector enterprises and has served as an Executive Director/Chairperson of a number of limited liability, Public Quoted Companies in Finance, Travel and Leisure sectors.