Russel Fonseka assumed duties as the General Manager/ Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Ceylon on January 17 at the Bank’s Head Office. Having joined the BOCin 1990, he has notched up 33 years of service with the banking giant and wasserving as theAdditional General Manager and the CFO before assuming duties as the 23rdGeneral Manager of the Bank. Fonseka succeeded K.E.D. Sumanasiri, who retired on 13thJanuary 2023.
Fonseka is a career banker, who over the years has successfully steered and given leadership to the various divisions that came under his purview.
He has held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Head of Finance and Planning, Head of International, Treasury and Investments, Head of Retail Banking and Head of Corporate and Offshore Banking. The exposure to many areas of banking would be a distinct advantage as he faces the task of steering the premier bank in Sri Lanka during what looks to be the most turbulent period the country and the globe has faced in recent times.
He holds a B.Sc (Special) degree in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a MBA from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School, USA as a part of grooming of selected individuals under Bank of Ceylon’s succession planning.He is a senior fellow member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He serves as a member of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board and is the immediate past president of the AAT Sri Lanka. He also held positions as the director on the boards of a number of Bank of Ceylon’s associate and subsidiary companies.While steering the country’s largest bank as it navigates through the turbulent conditions, Fonseka’s task will be to help the Bank of Ceylon elevate itself to the next level and utilize its capacities and capabilities to the fullest in assisting in the nation’s economic revival and development-a call to utilise his competencies and acumen to the fullest.