Board of Directors

Ali Asghar (Asgi) Akbarally is an Executive Director of Akbar Brothers (Pvt) Ltd, one of Sri Lanka's largest diversified corporates, globally renowned for its tea exports. Asgi Akbarally holds directorship in multiple subsidiaries and affiliates of the Akbar Group covering sectors such as Manufacturing, Property Development, Hotels & Leisure, Healthcare, Power Generation, Packaging & Printing, Logistics and Environmental Services. He is the Managing Director of Renewgen (Pvt) Ltd and Deputy  Chairman of Windforce PLC, Chairman Hermitage Resorts (Pvt) Ltd, Uthurumaafaru Holding (Pvt) Ltd Maldives, Lhaviyani Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and Cocoon Investments (Pvt) Ltd Maldives. He is also a Director of Alumex PLC.

Asgi Akbarally is currently the Honorary Consul of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordon. He holds a BSc Degree in Industrial Engineering from the California State University and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. A classic car enthusiast, Asgi Akbarally has authored a coffee table book on "Classic and Vintage Automobiles of Ceylon" and is the Patron of the Classic Car Club of Ceylon.

Mohamed Azmeer, MD/CEO of Amāna Bank, is a seasoned banker with a career spanning over 30 years holding senior positions at leading financial institutions globally, including CitiBank, Al Rajhi Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.

Mohamed Azmeer took over the leadership of the Bank in June 2014. Prior to that, as the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer, he was overseeing the business functions of the Bank’s Consumer, SME, Corporate and Treasury divisions. Before joining Amãna Bank, Azmeer had gained significant exposure to conventional and Islamic banking through his illustrious career, both locally and internationally, which spans over 30 years. Having commenced a career in banking at Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Azmeer’s leadership progression and banking intuitiveness was a result of his overseas experience, primarily at Citibank, UAE, where he had gained the unique experience of both business and risk aspects of banking, having overseen such operations at senior levels. During such tenure, he also carried out many short overseas assignments to countries such as UK, India and Kenya, where he acquainted himself to the different dynamics and challenges specific to each business and region. At the culmination of his career at Citibank he held the position of Vice President – Risk, for UAE and Oman.

Azmeer’s experience also includes ‘start-ups’ where he was a founder member of the erstwhile Dubai Bank which was established at the direction of the Dubai Government.

Azmeer’s journey towards Islamic banking was a result of him wanting to have this nascent but people friendly concept accepted and embraced by a wider audience. In the field of Islamic banking, Azmeer’s track record involved holding senior positions at Al-Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia, the largest and leading Islamic Bank in the world and Sharjah Islamic Bank, a pioneering bank in UAE and the first Islamic bank in the world to fully convert its operations from being a conventional entity, in which he was an Executive Vice President.

Azmeer has served on the Boards of Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (Guarantee) Ltd., LankaClear, the national payment and clearing association of Sri Lanka, and was the Chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Sri Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd. Azmeer holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Leicester, UK.

Utilising his sound knowledge and wide experience, Azmeer has played a key role in guiding Amãna Bank towards the success it has reached thus far.

Dilshan Hettiaratchi is a Partner/Managing Director of Faber Capital Limited which is an investment banking firm headquartered in Dubai. The firm specialises in Capital Markets, Renewable Energy and Advisory opportunities. He has over 25 years of banking and financial markets experience. Prior to joining Faber Capital, he was the Managing Director and Head of Debt Capital Markets - MENA and Pakistan for Standard Chartered Bank. In this role he advised many high profile issuers from the Middle East such as The Government of Dubai. The Government of Ras Al Khaimah and other Corporates and Financial Institutions from the ME region to tap the International Bond and Sukuk markets. Prior to joining SCB, he worked with Citi National Investment Bank, which was the investment banking arm of Citibank and NDB based in Colombo, as well as at Waldock Mackenzie Limited which was the investment banking arm of John Keells Holdings. He is a Director of Asset Trust Management Limited, which is a SEC regulated Asset Management Company.

He was also a Steering Committee member of the Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA), and the Chair of the Government Bond issuance committee in 2011. He has been a speaker/panellist at a number of industry conferences in Debt Markets over the last few years.

He holds an MBA from the University of Colombo, is a CFA Charter holder and is an ACMA (UK).

Aaron Russell-Davison is a veteran banker with 26 years' experience across banking and financial institutions, including capital markets, bond and loan syndication, sales, bond trading, portfolio management and brokerage. Most recently, his tenure at Standard Chartered Bank Singapore spanned over 6 years, at the most senior levels of Capital Markets, as the Global Head of Debt Capital Markets. He also has served as Director, Capital Markets in prominent global institutions such as Credit Suisse, Hong Kong; Standard Bank of South Africa, Hong Kong; and Hypo-Vereins Bank, London. 

He has also held Board positions as an Independent Non-Executive Director of leading financial institutions, whilst serving in the capacity of Chairman-Group Risk Committee and as a member in the Group Audit, Remuneration and Related Party Committees. He has worked across multiple geographies and cultures with a strong Asian aspect, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Asian History and Politics) from the University of Western Australia. 

Mr. Mohammed Ataur Rahman Chowdhury is a seasoned financial sector specialist, having spent more than 20 years across in the Financial Institutions domain covering multiple geographic regions across Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. His diversified experience was spent mostly in senior roles in direct financing, investment banking, commercial banking, FI equities, board representations and turning around financial institutions. Joined in 2007, at present, Mr. Chowdhury is leading Non- Banking Financial Institutions at the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD); the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group providing strategic direction and support to company and management across Ijarah (Leasing), mortgage financing takaful, liquidity management and investment company operations to become profitable and sustainable. Prior to that, Mr. Chowdhury, being Head of Banking Investment, led establishments and formulating strategies of more than 15 Islamic banks with aggregate portfolio of nearly USD 260 million.

He is an experienced and veteran board member with proven track of transforming financial institutions from loss making into profitable. He has joined the Board of Taiba Leasing in Uzbekistan in April 2022. He is a former Board member in Maldives Islamic Bank Limited for the period 2012-2022 and played vital roles in the foundation, growth, and public listing stage of the bank. Briefly, Mr. Chowdhury also worked as Adviser, Financial Institutions for The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, UK on secondment from ICD.

Chowdhury’s professional career, preceding his ICD tenor, included 7 years in Bangladesh’s financial sector, holding the roles of: Corporate Relationship Manager in Commercial Bank of Ceylon Limited (Bangladesh operation), Investment Manager in IPDC (the first Development Financial Institution in the country) and Senior Investment Analyst in BRAC-EPL (a premier investment bank in the country).

A well-learned individual, Mr. Chowdhury holds an MBA in Finance from IE Business School, Spain, and another MBA in Finance & Accounting from North South University, Bangladesh. He has also earned a Diploma in Board Certification of Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, United Kingdom.

Syed Muhammed Asim Raza has over 35 years of diverse experience in banking and engineering industries at senior management level. He is well versed in all aspects of public and private sector projects and equity financing including identification, preparation, due diligence, implementation and post implementation activities. He has a vast experience in remedial asset management which involved recovery of classified portfolio through restructuring, liquidation and litigation activities.

Currently attached to Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), Mr. Raza is involved in developing the enabling environment for trusts and endowments sector in OIC member and non-member countries; providing technical assistance for capacity building, regulatory and institutional development. He is deeply involved in the development of new endowments as well as establishment of commercial real estate projects on idle endowment land for transforming them into revenue generating asset. Currently, he is supervising the global projects portfolio of more than US$ 300 million.

Prior to joining IsDB, Mr. Raza worked in Pakistan and served on various senior positions at different financial institutions. He served as Vice President at Muslim Commercial Bank and Atlas Investment Bank Limited. He worked twelve years with the National Development Finance Corporation, which was mandated for the development of infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

Mr. Raza holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration. He is a member of various Engineering Councils and Institutes and has represented IsDB as a speaker at various prestigious forums and conferences.

Omar Kassim is a fintech focused technology entrepreneur, who specialises in conceiving, building, and exiting interesting technology ventures. Omar is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nomod, a London headquartered startup building a highly efficient, scalable, business banking platform to empower millions of entrepreneurs and startups around the world to start and grow their businesses with inventive payment and banking tools. Omar also Co-Founded and was the Chief Executive Officer of Esanjo, a trading, investment, and technology business based in Dubai, where he remains a member of the Board. Omar previously founded and exited JadoPado, a highly regarded e-commerce technology platform addressing the Middle East, North African, and South Asian markets. Omar holds a BsC in Electronics Engineering and Business Studies from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Mohamed Adamaly is a leading legal professional in Sri Lanka having a wide Civil Law practice in the Original Courts and Appellate Courts, with a focus on Commercial Law, Labour Law, Insurance Law, and Banking & Credit related laws. Adamaly also specializes in Investment Advisory, Business Set-up/Restructuring Services and Corporate Acquisitions.

Adamaly graduated from the Faculty of Law University of Colombo with Honours while also achieving First Class Honours from the Sri Lanka Law College before being admitted as an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1994. Adamaly has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Colombo and at the Sri Lanka Law College. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM UK) and is a leading lecture for CIM and formerly for CIMA, in Sri Lanka.

In view of his combined legal, Marketing and business expertise, Adamaly holds and has held directorships in several public and private companies including in the David Peiris Group, Bogala Graphite Lanka PLC, Assetline Leasing Company Limited and Sinwa Holdings Limited. Adamaly is also a leading thespian and cinema personality in the country and has received the National TOYP Award for his contribution to Drama and Literature.

Tishan Subasinghe, is a Fellow and Council Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and the Managing Director and Joint Managing Partner of Moore Stephens Consulting (Private) Limited and Moore Stephens Aiyar respectively. Before that he was the Head of Audit and Assurance at BDO Partners. He is also the Chairman of Sanasa General Insurance Company Limited and is also a Council Member of the University of Moratuwa.

His profession also expands overseas where he had work experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Botswana spanning several years. These were supported by the international training that he has undergone in USA, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Malaysia, Indonesia and Rome.

As a member of CA Sri Lanka, Tishan has served as the Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee, National Conference Committee and Examinations Committee. He also held the post of Vice President of the Young Chartered Accountants Forum (YCAF).

Tishan is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA-USA) and has an MBA in Finance by the University of Colombo with a Gold Medal and has earned an LLB (Hons.) degree from the Buckinghamshire New University. He is also a visiting lecturer at several Government Universities and had also conducted international training in Maldives and Bhutan.

Mohammad Hassan has over 10 years of extensive experience across the asset management industry in both equity and fixed income investing. He has a deep understanding and is well-versed in financial statement analysis particularly relating to valuation of equity and fixed income instruments as well as utilizing tools such as Bloomberg and S&P Capital IQ to build comparable companies and transaction models.

Hassan is currently attached to ICD, the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group as the Principal of the Banking Equities Department. As a part of his role, Hassan oversees the private equity portfolio of investee banks spread across 8 countries while also involved in reviewing financial models and business plans for potential new investee banks working closely with C-level management of each bank to optimize business strategy in the context of regulatory and macroeconomic developments.

Prior to this Hassan was associated as a Co-Portfolio Manager for ICD’s fixed income funds including the ICD Money Market Fund and ICD Corporate Premium Fund, 2 high-yield income funds currently having more than $300 million under management. As part of his Asset Management role in ICD, Hassan was also responsible to many notable fixed income investments and private placements. Prior to joining the IsDB Group, Hassan’s professional career included over 5 years in Pakistan’s financial sector, including holding the roles of Manager – Business Internal Controls and Money Market Dealer in Burj Bank, Relationship Manager in Bank Al-Falah and Relationship Associate at Meezan Bank.

Hassan is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from North Western University, USA.

Khairul Muzamel Perera has over 35 years of banking related experience including stints at a credit rating agency and a national asset management institution. Prior to his retirement in October 2022, he was the Group Chief Credit Officer overseeing the Credit Management Division at Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. His key function as the GCCO was to manage the asset quality of the bank which he undertook by overseeing the credit analysis function (pre-approval transactional credit), credit analytics (model development and maintenance – retail and non-retail) the central financing processing function which handled the end-to-end processing and approval of all retail financing and the Valuation unit which oversees all collateral valuations in the Bank. He Chaired the Financing Committees and the Underwriting & Investment Committee in the Bank and remains as the Chairman of the Investment Committee (an independent function), at BIMB Investment Management Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank.
Arising from his involvement as the Banks representative in the Joint Committee for Climate risk management spearheaded by Bank Negara, he initiated the development of an Environmental Social and Governance(ESG) Framework to introduce the assessment of Climate related risks in the credit risk process in line with Bank Negara’s Climate Change Principles based taxonomy and set up an ESG unit in the Bank to oversee this initiative and its impact on the Banks financing portfolio. A Chartered Company Secretary by profession, Khairul is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, London and a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic finance professionals, Malaysia 

Miss Shireen Watson joined Amãna Bank PLC in June 2021.

She is a Fellow Member of The Chartered Governance Institute UK formerly known as the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators – London. Her professional experience as a Chartered Secretary counts for over 30 years.

Prior to joining Amãna Bank, she held the position of Head of Secretarial of Hemas Corporate Services (Pvt) Ltd, secretaries for the Hemas Group of Companies. She also held the position of Company Secretary of a Finance Company and its subsidiaries and has gathered extensive knowledge and experience in handling both the registrars and secretarial functions of listed entities and private /public companies of two conglomerates over the years.

In addition, Miss Shireen has exposure to people management by having an oversight on the Human Resource function of a Finance Company with over 30 Branches Island wide.

Miss Shireen was invited by the Institute of Chartered Corporate Secretaries in Sri Lanka to share her knowledge and experience in Company Secretarial Practice with the students of the Institute by lecturing for the Intermediate Level and Professional level.