A Banker who led from the front
Mr. Jegan Durairathnam is a veteran banker who is renowned for his outstanding leadership qualities, an eye for innovation and firm ethics. These qualities and his contribution to further grow the benchmark Bank in Sri Lanka have earned him the title as one of Asia’s Outstanding Leaders.
Durairatnam has been part of the Bank since 1982 and has been on the Bank’s corporate management team for seven years before being appointed as the Chief Operating Officer in 2012 and subsequently Managing Director in 2014. During his tenure in the bank, he has accumulated decades of experience in International Trade, Off-shore Banking, Credit, Operations and IT.
A degree holder from the Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka, Mr. Durairatnam effectively noticed the potential of new technology, cards, SMEs, and international trade early on and drove the implementation of a semi-automated infrastructure in the Bank through ATMs, investments in SMEs, the establishment of international networks, implementation of new innovative technologies, and much more. Under his guidance, Commercial Bank launched many innovative products and services, some of which are first of its kind in the South Asian region.
These strategic moves helped to further augment the success of Commercial Bank, positioning it leaps and bounds ahead of other competitions. Commercial Bank is the largest private bank in Sri Lanka that has been on the Top 1000 Banks of the World for eight successive years. In the past two years, the bank has received over 30 awards for their high performance.
Another excellent quality of Mr. Jegan Durairatnam is his foresight for the future, and his renowned meticulous planning.When planning a strategy, he is known to comb through his plans until he is certain that the outcomes would be beneficial for the long term. His planning of the bank’s gradual growth has fostered amicable, established relationships with clients. Durairatnam’s skilful planning also enabled him to take calculated risks to ensure whatever pursued will be successful, allowing the brand to evolve while still remaining true to its values.
A leader who mentored many youngsters to excel in their respective fields, Durairathnam always strived to empower his employees to make educated decisions. During his tenure at Commercial Bank, he was known to be a leader who led from the front, driving the teams to achieve excellence.
This ardent advocate of social and environmental responsibility and sustainability has given leadership to continue the strategic CSR activities of the Bank. Commercial Bank has been uplifting education by donating over 175 laboratories to schools .The bank also champions the environment by supporting green financing initiatives. It also focuses on health by providing infrastructure and critical care to government hospitals. In keeping with the triple bottom line approach of the Commercial Bank, Mr. Durairathnam has often stood for businesses decisions that compromise environmental sustainability, social benefit and quality. His concern and contributions to the community makes him not only a skilled banker, but also a contributor to Sri Lanka’s society and future. After an illustrious career of 36 years, Mr. Jegan Durairathnam retired from Commercial Bank of Ceylon in July 2018. He currently sits on several corporate boards in Sri Lanka.
