Speakers

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala

President – Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala’s knowledge and experience speaks for itself. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Fellow Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, and Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK.

He has served as both Chairman and Managing Director of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Former Chairman of People’s Bank, People’s Merchant Bank and Pan Asia Bank and Former Chairman of State Mining and Mineral Development Corporation and the Ceylon Leather Products Corporation.

He is a Past President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), Organization of Professional Accountants of Sri Lanka (OPA) and Founder Past President of Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT).

As the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka was signatory to the formation of SAFA in New Delhi in 1984 and was elected as the first Vice President of SAFA.

Currently he is the President of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and Director of Richard Pieris & Company PLC, Gestetner (Ceylon ) PLC, Lake House & Publishers PLC, Abans Electricals PLC and Lanka IOC PLC. He is also Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Board Member of the South Asian Federation of Accountant (SAFA).

He was also instrumental in pioneering Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT) and Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA-Sri Lanka) and the Founder President of these Institutes.

He has also presented several papers at international conference including Confederation of Asian & Pacific Accountants (CAPA) Conference held in Seoul, Korea in 1989 and Commonwealth Workshop of Corporate Governance held in Maldives in 2007.

Ms. Olivia Kirtley

President – International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, became president of the IFAC Board in November 2014. She previously served as deputy president from 2012 to 2014 and was first elected to the Board in November 2007. Ms. Kirtley also served on the independent IFAC Task Force on Rebuilding Public Confidence in Financial Reporting in 2002 and 2003.

Ms. Kirtley is a business consultant on strategic, risk, and governance issues. She is also a non-executive director of three public companies - U.S. Bancorp, Papa John's International, Inc., and ResCare, Inc. She was previously vice president of finance and chief financial officer of a global manufacturing company and a joint venture of Emerson Electric Co. and Robert Bosch GmbH. Ms. Kirtley spent the first decade of her career with Ernst & Ernst/Ernst &Whinney (now EY) in both audit and tax.

In 1998, Ms. Kirtley was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). From 2000 to 2003, Ms. Kirtley was chairman of the AICPA Board of Examiners, where she led computerization of the Uniform CPA Examination with substantial changes to the content and structure. Ms. Kirtley is the recipient of the AICPA’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, in recognition of her exemplary leadership and service to the accountancy profession. In 2010, she was also named to NACD Directorship 100 by the National Association of Corporate Directors as one of the leading 100 corporate directors and governance professionals in the U.S.

Ms. Kirtley has a master's degree in taxation from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida Southern College.

Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

Minister of Finance

Minister of Finance and a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District. Karunanayake was the former Cabinet Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs from 2001 to 2004. He is the Assistant Leader of United National Party (UNP) and its chief organizer for the Colombo North Electorate in Colombo District.

He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and he is a Patron of the Institute. He is also Fellow members of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants of UK.

H.E. Ms. Shelley Whiting

High Commissioner - High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Shelley Whiting (BSc, University of Alberta, 1981; LLB, University of British Columbia, 1987) joined the Department of External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1989. Her first assignment was to Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Other early foreign assignments included Belgrade and Bangkok (as first secretary and vice-consul). Ms. Whiting served as Canada’s ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina from 2003 to 2006. In Ottawa, Ms. Whiting has worked in various areas, including international economic relations, international security, and human rights and humanitarian law. She served as Canadian political adviser to NORAD, the joint Canada and US military command. Immediately prior to becoming Canada’s High Commissioner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and to the Republic of Maldives, Ms. Whiting served as the deputy Head of Mission for Canada’s Embassy in Afghanistan.

Mr. Arjuna Herath

Mr. Arjuna Herath – President – Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka

Mr. Arjuna Herath is the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka). He is also currently the President of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and a Partner at Ernst & Young.

Mr. Herath is a member of the Accounting Standards Committee and the Auditing Standards Committee in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Herath also plays a significant role in the international accounting arena in his capacity as a member of the Professional Accountancy Organization Development Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). He also represents CA Sri Lanka as a Director on the Board of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and a member of the Professional Accountancy Organization Development Committee of CAPA

Mr. Herath qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1990 and holds a BSc. degree and a MA in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo and a MBA from the University of Strathclyde, UK.

Mr. W.A.A.D. Perera

Council Member – CMA Sri Lanka
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer - Lanka Rating Agency Ltd

Mr. Adrian Perera was appointed to the CMA Council in April 2013. He is the Chief Executive Officer at Lanka Rating Agency Limited.

Adrian is a Fellow member of the Charted Institute of Management Accountant(UK),a Fellow Member of ACCA UK, Associate Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Fellow Member of the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and he has a MBA from University of Sri Jayewardenepura Colombo. He has over 21 years of experience in Banking, Treasury, Finance, IT and General Management in the Banking ,Finance and manufacturing sectors.

He has attended training programs conducted in Sri Lanka and overseas extensively.

Mr. Graham Terry

Consultant - Strategy & Integrated Thinking -South Africa

Graham Terry studied at the University of Cape Town and became a Chartered Accountant (South Africa) in 1977. He did his training with EY (then Arthur Young) in Cape Town. He transferred to Johannesburg where he helped to establish the technical department. He joined The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1985 as the Technical Director. In later years he served in other positions including Vice President. The last 5 years at SAICA he served as Senior Executive: Strategy and Thought Leadership. He has served on many technical committees both in South Africa and internationally.

He was a member of the International Integrated Reporting Committee’s Working Group which developed theFramework. He served on the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa and chaired its working Group which issued the first discussion paper on integrated reporting. He is currently an IIRC Ambassador. He recently led a team of researchers that produced a research report on integrated thinking. He has written two books and he has served on the board of Trustees of two academic journals. He retired at the end of 2014 and now writes articles and does some consulting on integrated reporting and strategy.

Mr. Yacoob Suttar (FCA, FCMA)

President - ICA - Pakistan

Mr. Yacoob Suttar is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and the Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) with 29 years of experience.

He joined Asia Petroleum Limited in February, 2013 as Managing Director & CEO.

Prior to this he worked at

• Pakistan State Oilfrom February 2005 to February 2013, as Executive Director Finance & IT.
• Engro Chemical Pakistan from 1988 to February 2005, various positions.
• Mohd. Assad Aldrees& Sons, Saudi Arabia from 1986 to 1988, CFO.
• Unilever Pakistan Limited, 1985 to 1986, Asst. Manager-Internal Audit.
• A.F.Ferguson& Co., 1981 to 1985, Audit Training.

During his career, he has worked in Accounting, Finance, Internal Audit, Planning, New Business Development, Human Resource, Administration and IT.

He is currently the President of ICAP for the term 2014-15. Mr. Suttar has been serving the Council for the last 5 years and was the Vice President South in 2012-13. He has remained the Chairman of ICAP Professional Accountants In Business (PAIB) Committee for the last 5 years, while serving on Executive Committee, Examination Committee and Human Resource Committee. He is also member of PAIB Committee of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) where he has been nominated as Deputy Chairman for the year 2015.

Mr. Asite D.B. Talwatte

Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Asite is the Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka and Maldives. He has been a Partner since 1983 working in Audit, Business Risk Services & Management Consultancy. Asite has worked with Ernst & Young in Cleveland, Ohio. Asite served on Ernst & Young’s Far-East Area Executive Committee, The Area Advisory Council and now serves on the ASEAN Leadership Committee.

Asite Talwatte was President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) for a two year period 2002/2003 and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 1995/96.

Asite served as the Chairman of the Statutory Accounting Standards Committee and the Auditing Standards Committee, the Urgent Issues Task Force and the Examinations Committee of ICASL. At CIMA he served as Chairman of the Management and Professional Development (MPD) Committee.

Asite has been closely associated with the development of Corporate Governance in Sri Lanka. He was actively involved with the Code of Corporate Governance of 2003 and the Code of Audit Committees in 2002. He co-chaired the committee comprising members of industry, the profession, academia and regulators to structure the revised Code of Corporate Governance of 2008 and the Listing Rules. In 2012 Asite co-chaired a Committee on Corporate Governance set up by ICASL jointly with the SEC to review and revise the Code of Corporate Governance. He currently chairs a Committee to review the applicability of Integrated Reporting in Sri Lanka.

Asite has served as a non-executive director on boards of listed companies, public companies and state owned enterprises.

He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the U.K. Asite has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business and Financial Administration awarded by ICASL and the University of Wageningen, Holland and has a MBA from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka. Asite has also participated in a Kellogg Executive Programme at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Mr. Michael Nugent

Technical Director (Framework Development) - International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)

Michael is on secondment from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Major projects he has lead at IFAC include the International Framework for Assurance Engagements, and assurance standards on non-financial information (ISAE 3000), greenhouse gases (ISAE 3410) and controls at a service organization (ISAE 3402). Michael is a member of the GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board and the International Auditing and Assurance Board’sWorking Group. Having moved to London in 2011 to develop the InternationalFramework, he is now based back in Melbourne, Australia. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a member of CPA Australia.

Dr. A.S. Durga Prasad

President - ICA - India

CMA Dr. A.S. Durga Prasad is the President of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India for the year 2014-15.

CMA Dr. A.S. Durga Prasad is an accomplished executive with over 37 years’ experience in Financial Management and Cost Management in variety of industries. His experience includes Financial Advisory Services, strategies and business development for small and medium industries and providing cost management systems and MIS systems for large number of units.

Has been involved in all facets of corporate strategic management, including developing business models, financial structuring, Mergers and Acquisition, Valuation of Companies, Capital structuring and advising clients on the future plan related to fund raising. He was involved with number of Public Offers and was advisor number of companies.

Past Chairman of Southern India Regional Council of the Institute; He was a visiting faculty with many institutions and regular speaker at Industry and Academic forums. Member of several academic institutions on the Board of Studies and Governing Council;

He was the Vice-President of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India for the terms 2008-09 and 2013-14.

Education: B.Com, Ph.D and Fellow Member of Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Mr. Indrajith Fernando

Chief Executive Officer - Bartleet Transcapital Ltd

Mr. Indrajith Fernando is a Professional Accountant in Business and has over 25 years of experience in business and in the profession. He is a fellow of CMA-Sri Lanka, CA Sri Lanka, CIMA-UK and a senior member-CPA-Maldives. He also holds a MBA from University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

His contribution is beyond the confines of the profession and the range and the depth of his contribution included to the Corporate World. He trained at KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton & Co and then moved to diversified conglomerates. Currently he is the Managing Director of Bartleet TransCapital, and Crescent Global South Asia a Broker at Lloyds and member of the GBN. He is also a Non-Executive Director of FLH Capital Holdings, Stromme Microfinance (Asia), Bartleet Finance Plc. He serves as Chairman of the Audit and Integrated Risk Management Committees.

Indrajith has served the Accountancy Profession in different capacities and his efforts to build technical and administrative capacity in the Profession included a World Bank grant to improve the Relevance and Quality of Education (IRQUE), a first granted to a tertiary education institution outside the Universities. He has been the President of Student Societies CA and CIMA and has served in Committees and the Council of the CA of Sri Lanka. He has chaired several committees and was elected as the Vice President and then President of CA Sri Lanka. He has the distinction of being the first from Sri Lanka to serve as a Member of a International
Federation of Accountant (IFAC) committee namely The Developing Nations Committee. He was also the President of South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), Advisor, and First Chairman of the SAFA Committee on improving Transparency, Accountability and Governance (CiTAG) and President of Confederation of SAARC Apex Bodies of Sri Lanka. He has served the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) as the Treasurer and a Vice President. He is currently serving as a member of the advisory committee of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI, UK).

During his tenure as President of ICA SL, he was ex officio appointed to the   Securities & Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, National Institute of Business Management and the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors and the Chairman of the Finance Committee & Treasurer of S Thomas’ College, his alma mater.

Mr. Kashif Mateen Ansari

President - ICMA Pakistan

The National Council of Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan in its 325th meeting held on February 1, 2015 elected Mr. Kashif Mateen Ansari, FCMA as President of ICMA Pakistan for the tenure 2015-2017.

Presently, Mr. Kashif Mateen Ansari is working as Chief Executive Officer of Sachal Energy Development (Pvt.) Ltd. Mr. Kashif has been a distinction holder throughout his academia and Sword of Honor Winner along with five Gold Medals from Pakistan Military Academy. He qualified with distinction from prestigious Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMA Pakistan). He is also qualified from Harvard University USA and currently serving as secretary of Harvard University Alumni Club in Pakistan.

Mr. Kashif Mateen Ansari FCMA is known for his substantial diversified management experience of turning around the businesses. He has an excellent sense of translating strategic aspects of businesses into practical action plans. He held senior management position of Chief Operating Officer of Askari Group of companies (AWT) and turned around the loss-making group into profits within couple of years. He remained member of Board of Directors of various Public and Private Limited companies in Financial, Cement, Oil & Gas, Agriculture, Aviation, Security Services, Hospitality, Real Estate, Pharmaceutical, Sugar sectors. He also served in international Development Organizations like Actionaid and Oxfam GB, which are working in more than 100 countries as a senior team member and head of department.

He is currently known for his work on Wind Energy in Pakistan and a 50 MW project under his leadership is in its final execution stage. He is regularly invited to present papers for international think tanks and to speak on economy and business at various forums. His other interests include his volunteer work for philanthropic organizations focusing on education and Special Children.

Mr. A.N. Raman

Past President SAFA & Member of IFAC, PAIB Committee

He is a Fellow Member of ICWAI, an Associate Member of ICAI, Fellow Member of CMA - Sri Lanka and very recently in May 2011 was conferred the membership of CPA Australia.

Articled in the consultancy division of Price Waterhouse & Co., New Delhi, he was a rank holder in both the intermediate and the final exams of ICAI. He is a member of the Technical Advisory Board of ICMA.

A N Raman, an internationally acclaimed expert on various nuances of cost management principles including Activity Based Costing / Management, Strategic cost management, Value chain analysis and Target costing has the unparalleled distinction of scripting and introducing the whole concept of Total Cost Management in a structured format to Indian industry since 1996.

He was the president of SAFA (South Asian Federation of Accountants) in 2011, an apex accounting body for 7 SAARC countries and an Acknowledged Accountancy Grouping of the IFAC. During his Presidentship of SAFA a MOU was signed between GRI and SAFA bringing in the scope of training accountants on sustainability.

Mr. Raman has been a member of the PAIB committee of IFAC since 2009. He was also an invited speaker on the GRI summit on sustainability reporting held in Amsterdam in 2013. He has also been nominated as a member in the Strategy Advisory Group of the A4S of Prince of Wales.

Mr. Devesh Rapartiwar

Regional Lead, India

Mr. Masih Malik Chowdhury (FCA)

President - ICA - Bangladesh

Masih Malik Chowdhury is the President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh for the year 2015. A Vice President in 2005, he is in ICAB Council since 2004. He served as Chairman of many Standing & Non-Standing Committees of Council-ICAB.

Mr. Chowdhury had graduated with Honors and Masters in Economics from the University of Dhaka. Mr. Chowhdury became an Associate Member of ICAB in 1981 and Fellow Member in 1986. He did LLB from the University of Dhaka and is a FCS.

Founder Partner of MasihMuhithHaque & Co, Chartered Accountants, his firm is correspondent Firm of RSM International Network for Bangladesh. Mr. Chowdhury is an Entrepreneur and Chairman/Director in few Private Sector Companies in Merchant Banking, Capital Market, Telecom, Health care & Education.

He is a Govt. nominated Director in Micro-Credit Regulatory Authority (MRA), Social Development Foundation (SDF) & Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). As President ICAB, he is also Member, Board of Governors of National Academy for Planning & Development (NAPD), Ministry of Planning- GoB; Member, Board of Directors of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd. (DMTCL); Member, Board of Directors of Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Ltd. (Dhaka BRT); Member, Advisory Committee of Bangladesh Securities & Exchange Commission (BSEC); Member, Academic Committee of Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), University of Dhaka and also the Board Member & Member, Academic Council of Bangladesh Institute of Capital Market (BICM).

As passion he contributes to Journals and Dailies quite often. A former Senate Member, University of Dhaka,he authored 10 books in Bengali and English – (1). Raajniti O Budget, (2). Nirbachan, Orthonity O SwadeshChinta (3). Bangladesh: UnnayanVhabna (4). BusherSharengibadhakKe? (5). Budget: Tool for Development Resources (6). Views on Development Resources, (7). Economy, Election and Politics, (8). Own Resources for Development, (9).Sri Lanka O MaldiveNoe Din (10) Australia O Malaysia GhureShawdesh.

He had been in General Electric Company (GEC) of Bangladesh as Controller of Accounts and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) as Additional Chief Accountant between 1981 to 1985.

The former Treasurer of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) for 8 years, he presented many papers in Seminars on national and professional issues under BEA, SAFA and ICAB among others. He has been Secretary General of PolliShishu Foundation of Bangladesh, a national NGO. He is a Life Member in many associations including BEA, BUP, DUEDAA, Azad Sporting Club, Sandhani, Asiatic Society, Muslim ShahittoShongshod&SylhetRatno Foundation, ShommilitoNagarikShomaj, only to name a few.

Mr. H.M. Hennayake Bandara

Council Member - CMA Sri Lanka

Mr. H.M. Hennayake Bandara is the former General Manager/CEO of National Savings Bank, President of the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka and President of the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.

He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the World Savings Banks Institute representing the Asia Pacific region, Board Member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and Director of NSB Fund Management Co. Ltd. He had been a Director of the Sri Lanka Banks’ Association and the Financial Ombudsman of Sri Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd.

In addition, Hennayake had been a Council Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education, Board Member of Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board, and a technical advisor and Committee Member of the Professional Accountants in Business of the South Asian Federation of Accountants.

He was a member of the Expert Group appointed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to provide expertise to Registered Finance Companies and specialised Leasing Companies in respect of the implementation of the “Stimulus Package for Banking, Finance & Leasing Industry”. A recipient of the award for “Excellence in Business Management’ awarded by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. Hennayake holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Special) degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and is Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka. He also holds a higher national diploma in Accountancy from the Technical College, Sri Lanka.

Dr. Aditi Haldar

Director - GRI, South Asia

Aditi Haldar is an expert on sustainable development with over 22 years’ experience in working with national, regional and global organizations in enhancing sustainability, transparency and reporting. In her current role as Director, GRI Focal Point India, she leads the Global Reporting Initiative’s efforts to make sustainability reporting a standard practice in India and in the broader South Asian region.

Throughout her career, Dr. Haldar has been active in various national and global advisory committees, networking groups and forums, including the Global Agenda Council Network of the World Economic Forum. A frequent contributor to publications on environmental management and sustainable development, she is also a popular speaker on sustainability and transparency issues in India and internationally. She has a PhD in Environmental Sciences.

Mr. Suresh Gooneratne

Chief Financial Officer - Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO)

Mr. Suresh Gooneratne is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lankaand is an alumni of KPMG, Colombo.

He holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenepura and is a recipient of the “Achievers Award” presented by its Alumni Association.

Mr. Gooneratne is a member of the Board of Directors of Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC. Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC is a participant of the Business Network of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

He is also a Non- Executive Director of Hunas Falls Hotels PLC.

Prof. Dr. Swapan Kumar Bala, FCMA

Prof. Dr. Swapan Kumar Bala, FCMA is the Treasurer of the National Council of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB). He has currently been working as the Managing Director of Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd. (DSE). Under his management leadership, DSE has been demutualized in November 2013. He began his teaching career at Dhaka University as a Lecturer of Accounting in 1991 and became Professor in 2011. He is an IFRS professional from ICAEW (UK). He obtained his B.Com. with Honors (1986) and M.Com. (1987) in Accounting from the Department of Accounting & Information Systems, University of Dhaka. He obtained ‘Certificate of Achievement on BIDS Advanced Course on Economics and Quantitative Techniques’, a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) equivalent program from Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). He did his Ph.D. on Value Added Taxation from Dhaka University.

Dr. Bala is the present Chairman, SAFA Committee on NPOs and Cooperative Sector. He was the Chairman, Journal Committee, ICMAB and Editor of The Cost and Management, the journal of the ICMAB (March 2012 to February 2013). He was also the Chairman of Dhaka Branch Council of ICMAB (2008).

Dr. Bala is an Associate Member of Virtual Institute, UNCTAD and a life member of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. He has extensive Training of Trainers experience including South Asia Regional Corporate Governance Board Leadership Training of Trainers (ToT) Program for the Banking Sector (June 2011) and Advanced Corporate Governance Board Leadership Training of Trainers Program (February 2012) organized by Global Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF) of International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Dr. Bala also rendered professional services to Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue (NBR), ICB Securities Trading Company Ltd. (ISTCL) and Bangladesh Institute of Capital Market (BICM). To his credit, he has 65 research articles, 9 research monographs, 8 books, 1 study manual, 40 seminar papers and 9 entries in Banglapedia

Mr. Srilal Ahangama

Group Director - The Capital Maharaja Organisation Limited

Chartered Accountant of Sri Lanka in 1971

Qualified as an ACCA in the UK in 1974

Currently involved in sectors such as media, manufacturing, retail and Services

Counts over 50 years of work experience

Prof. Ho Yew Kee

Head - Department of Accounting - National University - Singapore

Professor Ho Yew Kee is the Head, Department of Accounting of the NUS Business School, The National University of Singapore. He is an accountant by training having obtained his Bachelor (First Class) and Master of Economics from Monash University, Australia. He also obtained his Master in Industrial Administration and PhD. from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), USA. He has taught in Monash University, CMU, and currently is professor of accounting at the NUS Business School. Professionally, he is a Fellow CPA Australia and a Chartered Accountant Singapore. In addition, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification.

Professor Ho teaches Accounting and Financial Management in the Executive MBA (EMBA). At the university, he is also the Master, King Edward VII Hall of Residence. He had previously served as the Vice-Dean (Finance & Administration), Chairman, Executive Education and Director of MBA of the NUS Business School. He has won numerous teaching and research awards and has published extensively in journals, books, newspapers and conference proceedings in accounting, finance, law, human resource management and industrial organizations.

Professor Ho is on the Council of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and is the Chairman of the Membership Committee. In addition, he chairs the Integrated Reporting Workgroup on the Research and Thought Leadership.

Professor Ho is an executive trainer and has taught in many Executive Development Programmes, (for example, Stanford-NUS Executive Programme, MacDonalds, Asahi Glass, DHL, Alcatel-Lucent, Astra, Monetary Authority of Singapore, National Healthcare Group, among others). He also serves as a financial consultant for corporations and expert witness for litigation purposes. His consulting works include valuation of companies, stock options, financial reporting, financial planning and evaluation of companies and internal control designs and systems.

Professor Ho spends most of his other time serving on charities. He serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of St Luke Hospital and Dover Park Hospice. He is also the President of The Boys’ Brigade in Singapore and Chairman School Management Committee of the KuoChuan Presbyterian Schools. With respect to government organisations and statutory boards, he served as a director or council member of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Accounting and Corporate Reporting Authority (Singapore), Singapore Tax Academy amongst others. Finally, he sits on the investment committee of several organizations.

Mr. Sachin Joshi

Director - CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development - India

Sachin is an entrepreneur and he is often referred to for ideas and advice. He thinks, acts, talks and writes. Currently he is on a mission to transform business into value innovating entities. He emphatically demonstrates that business that don’t value innovate carry an expiry date with them.

At CESD, Sachin has developed “Sustainable Plus” world's first and only corporate sustainability label; created “Value Innovation” framework that helps companies develop business models that create value for stakeholders across the value chain; developed innovation property called “Sustainable & Inclusive Innovation or SI2”; he mentors the CII-ITC Sustainability Awards; and he is incubatingLab India on integrated reporting.

Sachin began his career as a strategist in advertising after an MBA and Honours in Mathematics. Since then, he has acquired over 16 years of experience in sustainability strategy and business model innovation. He advocates transformational approaches for businesses to truly become sustainable. Besides, he also steers internationalization of the Centre’s work on Sustainable and Inclusive Innovation, business model innovation and Green Procurement. Sachin mentors social enterprises and is currently a Board member of a social enterprise in rural distribution of basic needs, has mentored a social entrepreneur as part of Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator online programme, and is helping an enterprise in setting up an incubation Centre in India. He has published many reports and articles, trained and mentored managers and entrepreneurs, and advised for-profit and not-for-profit organisations on sustainability and innovation.

Sachin writes at different lengths ranging from 140 characters to reports on innovation, green procurement, and social business. He is approached for ideas on business models and strategy.

Prof. Samanthi Senaratne

Professor - Dept. of Accounting - University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Samanthi Senaratne is Professor of Accounting of the Department of Accounting, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Accounting with a first class, an MBA and a PhD specializing in finance. She is prolific researcher and has published widely in the areas of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility reporting and accounting education both locally and internationally. She has also won awards in recognition of her research work in the area of corporate governance.

Professor Senaratne actively engages in the curriculum development and quality assurance activities of national universities, higher educational institutions and the World Bank funded HETC (Higher Education for Twentieth Century) Project of the Ministry of Higher Education. She has also participated in international forums on post-secondary and higher education in Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Thailand and USA representing Sri Lanka. Presently she serves as the Chairperson of the Internal Quality Assurance Unit of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

She has participated as a panelist in various forums and roundtable discussions organized by the professional accounting bodies – AAT, ACCA, CA Sri Lanka, CIMA, and CMA. She has also contributed to the journals of these bodies in the areas of corporate social responsibility reporting, ethics in accounting, fair value accounting and integrated reporting.

She engages in teaching in the areas of financial reporting and accounting theory at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Further, she is actively engaged in curriculum development and teacher training relating to G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Accounting subject. She has also co-authored the book - ‘Cost and Management Accounting’ focusing on G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Accounting teachers and students.

Mr. A. D. Nuwan Gunarathne

Lecturer - Dept. of Accounting - University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Mr. Nuwan is a member of both Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (UK) and Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. He has an MBA from The Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) Sri Lanka with a merit and a degree in Business Administration from University of Sri Jayewardenepura with a first class standing. Nuwan, after years of teaching, consulting, and research currently serves as a lecturer in the Department of Accounting, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He has co-authored and authored many national and international publications in different spheres of management, management accounting and sustainability accounting. Nuwan has presented papers in Finland, Australia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.Nuwan also spearheaded the launch of “EMA Guidelines for the Sri Lankan Enterprises” in 2014 at the CMA National Conference. He is also a committee member of the Environmental and Sustainability Management Accounting Network (EMAN) - Asia Pacific (AP) and country representative of the Sri Lanka Chapter of EMAN-AP.

Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike

Chief Executive Officer - Colombo Stock Exchange

MMr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike is the Chief Executive Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). He has served in a senior management capacity at the Stock Exchange in Trading, Clearing and Settlement, Branch Development, Marketing, Human Resources and has led several market development initiatives. Mr. Bandaranaike counts over twenty years at the Colombo Stock Exchange. He has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of two listed companies and counts a total of 25 years’ experience in financial services.

Mr. Bandaranaike holds a Degree in Law (LLB) from the Open University of Sri Lanka, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and the Stock Broker Certification from the Securities Institute of Australia.

Dr. Joydeep Chatterjee

General Manager - Corporate Quality Assurance - Kirloskar Brothers Limited

Dr. Joydeep Chatterjee is working as a General Manager, Corporate Quality Assurance in Kirloskar Brothers Limited. He is entrusted with driving Organisational Excellence and Sustainability in the KBL group of companies. He has worked across diverse functions such as operations, quality, strategy development and deployment, customer support group and TQM. He is a metallurgical engineer and a researcher in management. He has worked on several global collaborative projects on clean technologies and alternative product development for metal packaging. He has several national and international publications in journals and conference proceedings. Presently he is working towards integrating the sustainability strategies into the organisational strategies for Kirloskar Brothers Limited group of companies through coordinated framework.

Mr. Arif Masud Mirza

Head of Policy MENASA - ACCA

A respected and a versatile leader, with specialist knowledge and experience of the international accounting profession. Has led and operated ACCA’s 3rd largest business market in terms of customer base in a highly complex and risky region. Currently leading the Policy agenda for ACCA across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Non-executive director of FINCA microfinance bank Ltd. and the Institute of Capital Markets. Extensive and an exemplary reputation on corporate governance. Also Technical Advisor on the IFAC Professional Accountancy Organisation Development Committee and recently appointed on the Editorial Board of ACCA’s Accountancy Futures international journal. Work experience spans across Asia and Europe.

Team player, people centric, articulate and strong ability to positively influence stakeholders and regulatory authorities. Strong international networks in the senior corporate, business and social circles.

Strong track record spanning over 30 years of professional accountancy, taxation, sustainability, working with partner organization.

Demonstrated track record on developing corporate and business strategies including organization transformation and change management.

Chartered certified accountant, LUMs.

Mr. Fuad Azim Hashimi

President - Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG)

Mr. Fuad Azim Hashimi is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He has over 45 years of experience in public accounting and diversified business and commercial ventures in banking, sales & marketing, information technology and fund management. Mr. Hashimi is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of Global Corporate Governance Forum and also a member of the Quality Assurance Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. He currently heads the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance.

He was a partner with A.F. Ferguson & Co., a member firm of Price Waterhouse & Co. and thereafter served with Middle East Bank – Dubai, Bankers Equity Ltd., Gestetner Holdings PLC / Ricoh Company, Japan, Jaffer Group of Companies, Dawood Group and National Investment Trust Limited. From a Corporate Governance perspective, he has served as a non-executive director on the boards of Crescent Commercial Bank Ltd., Clariant Pakistan Ltd., National Refinery Ltd., Pakistan Security Printing Corporation and Pakistan Cables Ltd., and is currently on the Board of International Industries Ltd. and Burj Bank Ltd, where he is additionally Chairman of their Audit Committees.

Mr. Subodh Dakwale

Managing Director, Lanka IOC PLC

Mr. Subodh Dakwale has wide-ranging and rich experience in the petroleum field having worked for more than 30 years in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, which is a Global Fortune 500 Company.

During a long and illustrious career he has worked in different divisions of Indian Oil like Engineering, LPG, Lubes and Sales & Marketing. This has given him hands-on experience and in depth knowledge in the gamut of petroleum industry.

His career in Indian Oil has taken him to various postings in India such as Mumbaqi, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bhopal. Prior to assuming office as Managing Director of Lanka IOC, Mr Dakwale headed the Retail Sales Department in the Madya Pradesh State of India. He was actively involved in various social and employee welfare related issues in India. He has carried the same passion in Sri Lanka also, through various CSR activities.

A result-oriented Executive, Mr. Dakwale with his out-of-box thinking and strategic initiatives has steered Lanka IOC to a path of progress creating value for each stakeholder. The company has tremendously improved on its financials and has won many awards during his stint of three years in Sri Lanka. A natural leader with great networking skills, Mr. Dakwale has carved a niche for himself among industry leaders.

An engineer by profession, Mr. Dakwale is an avid sportsman too. He has excelled in Badminton and Tennis and is now making his mark as a golfer also.

Mr. Basel Omar Abu-Ali

VP-Communication - IMA Abu Dhabi Chapter

Basel Abu-Ali is an experienced business professional with over eighteen years of practical experience across different sectors and industries; holds an MBA and preparing for his doctorate in business administration. Basel also holds several business, finance, and accounting professional certificates and designations.

Basel currently lives and works in UAE.

Mr. Chulendra de Silva

Head of Sustainability & Enterprise Risk Mgt - John Keells Group

Chulendra currently heads the Sustainability, Enterprise Risk Management and Procurement functions of the MTD Walkers Group, which he joined in 2015. Up until June 2015, Chulendra headed the Sustainability, Enterprise Risk Management and Group Initiative Division of John Keells Holdings PLC as a Vice President of the Group.

While at John Keells he was involved in entrenching Sustainability practices within the Group through the implementation of a Group-wide sustainability management framework. This involved change in culture, linking of the Group’s risk management processes to incorporate sustainability issues and risks, introduction of systems and processes for comprehensive sustainability and risk reporting and facilitating the use of sustainability management accounting, sustainability assurance and risk assurance to provide management information for strategy formulation and operational decision making.

He’s also experienced in carrying out project feasibilities covering acquisitions green-field ventures, such as company acquisitions to large scale Public Private Partnerships / Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI) projects. He also has experience in business process management, process optimisation and organizational sourcing.

Chulendra is a Certified Sustainability Practitioner and he also holds a first class honours degree in Science from the University of Colombo, is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), holds an MBA from the University of Southern Queensland and is a Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Charter holder.

Mr. Russell Guthrie

Chief Financial Officer - International Federation of Accountants

Russell Guthrie has recently been named Executive Director, Professional Relations, and Chief Financial Officer for IFAC. In his role, he is responsible for external and member relations, finance, and the overall governance of the organization. He oversees the operating line Global Representation and Advocacy, which include public policy, regulation, and communications. He also oversees the Quality operating line, which includes the Member Body Compliance Program and the Forum of Firms.

Mr. Guthrie previously held various executive roles within IFAC having joined IFAC as director in March 2001.

Prior to joining IFAC, he worked for 12 years in the assurance practice of KPMG—initially in Dallas, Texas, followed by two years in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He also has extensive experience in the development and maintenance of firm quality control programs, having served for three years in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as KPMG's Director of Global Quality Assurance.

Mr. Guthrie graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1988, receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a licensed CPA in the states of Texas and New York and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

Mr. Richard Bedlow

Executive Director - PwC Malaysia's Assurance Services

Richard Bedlow is an Executive Director with PwC Malaysia's Assurance Services and is currently on secondment from PwC UK. He is a Chartered Accountant with over 11 years of experience in managing a wide range of clients including large public multinationals in the FMCG and Consumer Packaged Goods sector as well as Shared Service Centre engagements.

Richard leads the Corporate Reporting team in PwC Malaysia, and is responsible for benchmarking assessments and integrated reporting projects leveraging his experience of working with leading IIRC pilot companies in the UK.