Mr. Damith Pallewatte

Director

Mr. Damith Pallewatte is a distinguished banking and risk management professional with over 28 years of experience in the financial services industry. He currently serves as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB), one of Sri Lanka’s leading and most respected financial institutions.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Pallewatte held several key leadership positions including Acting Chief Executive Officer, Deputy General Manager - Wholesale Banking Group, Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Before joining HNB, he was the Chief Risk Officer at Nations Trust Bank PLC.

Mr. Pallewatte holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a BSc (Hons) degree in Management from the London School of Economics, University of London. He is a risk management professional having admitted to the designation of Financial Risk Manager by Global Association of Risk Professionals since 2013 and a certified Sustainability and Climate Risk manager from the same institution. In addition to his executive responsibilities at HNB, Mr. Pallewatte serves as the Chairman of HNB Investment Bank, a full-service investment bank and Chairman of two listed entities in CSE, Lanka Ventures PLC and LVL Energy Fund PLC. In addition, he serves as a director of Lanka Pay Pvt Ltd, Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd and the Vice President and Director of the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL).

He has played an active role in shaping the broader industry landscape through appointments to the MESANA (Middle East South Asia and North Africa) Regional Advisory and Engagement Panels of AICPA and CIMA, and has served as Vice Chairman of the CIMA Country Network Committee (Sri Lanka) and Chair of the South Asia Area Committee of CIMA & AICPA covering Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. He is a past president of the CRO Forum, a conclave of Bank CROs, in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Pallewatte is also a respected thought leader and educator, having contributed as a resource person for the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Central Bank’s Centre for Banking Studies, the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors, and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments (UK).