ACCA Sri Lanka elects new President for 2014/2015

ACCA’s Annual General Meeting held recently at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo, had Danushka Samarasinghe, the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Research at Softlogic Stockbrokers, being  elected as the President for ACCA Sri Lanka for the year 2014/2015. Adrian Perera, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Lanka Rating Agency Ltd former RAM Ratings Lanka, will hold the position of Vice President.  
Danushka has over 12 years of experience in the field of Investment Banking having held many key positions in industry prior to his current position. He was a Director and Head of Research at TKS Securities Ltd and headed the research unit of Asia Securities where he played a key role in actively promoting the Sri Lankan Capital Markets amongst foreign investors since 2006 to date.
He also worked at Amba Research Ltd as an Offshore Analyst covering the Hong Kong equities market. Samarasinghe holds a master’s from Aberdeen Business School, Scotland, a bachelor’s degree from Oxford Brookes University UK and he is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA). He has also lectured for ACCA, CIMA, International Degree programs and Investment Advisor License programs conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The rest of the executive committee comprised of B.H.S. Jayawardena, Channa De Silva, Cyril Mundy, Jehan Perinpanayagam, Kumuduni Gunatilake, Nandika Buddipala, Suren Rajakarier, and Supul Wijesinghe.
Outlining his vision statement, Samarasinghe said, “With ACCA launching their global program of creating ‘Complete Finance Professionals’, we at ACCA Sri Lanka are committed in moving towards this vision and to ensure our affiliates and members are capable of been internationally competitive professionals in the field of finance. Both student and member development are pivotal and we look to drive more participative programs through our subcommittees.
“Also leveraging on our global network of nearly 200,000 memberships we are committed in adding value to our members who are already highly sought after by employers who value the competency and sound ethical standing of ACCAers.”
Perera also added his comments and stated that the ACCA qualification enables one to practice in any sector of the economy andgives an international perspective to successfully manage businesses in today’s competitive global arena.
Keeping in line with ACCA’s 2020 vision to become the number one in developing professional accountants the world needs, underpinned by four outcomes; Attract, Develop, Sustain and Lead the profession, Ruchera Jayawardena Peries, Business Development Manager – Employers, for ACCA Sri Lanka, outlined the years achievements that had led to a double digit growth in students and members for ACCA Sri Lanka.

These comprised of MOU’s signed with theUniversities of Colombo, Kelaniya and Sri Jayewardenepura, providing students the opportunity to gain the ACCA qualification. An MOU was signed with National Institute of Education and meetings were held with the Minister and the Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education. A new approved learning provider was signed up and 40 new members felicitated.
MOUs were also signed with a range of employers including the World Bank and Accenture, as well as with SLASSCOM, where ACCA Sri Lanka sponsored the SLASSCOM FAO report in 2013.
Workshops were held to give awareness on a multitude of current financial trends taking placing in the industry. These comprised of integrated reporting, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), IFRS and Fair Value adoption, Finance Transformation – The outlook of the FAO sector, IFRS-Related Tax issues, Finance as a route to corporate board positions, women in finance, Leadership in corporate reporting and women in leadership.
Successful events organised includedthe 3rd MENASA Learning Provider Conference, the student conference titled ‘Success through Synergy’ and ACCA’s flagship event, ‘Sustainability reporting awards ceremony’, attended by over 300 guests.
To enhance ACCA’s brand equity, a 360 degree marketing communications campaign on ‘complete finance professional theme’ was launched and rolled out throughout the year.