The K. Sivagananathan Memorial Trust (KSMT) and The Council of the Association of Professional Bankers (APB) held its 8th annual awards ceremony last week in commemoration of the late K. Sivagananathan - a groundbreaking banker in Sri Lanka.

During his career, he served as a senior Deputy General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon. Following his retirement, he took over as the CEO of Janashakthi Insurance Company PLC, and later worked as a Consultant to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka until his untimely death in 2002.

The K. Sivagananathan Memorial Trust was established in honour of one of his last wishes: To provide an opportunity to assist financially disadvantaged students across Sri Lanka who show promise in the fields of banking and finance.

The commemoration ceremony included several speakers to honour Sivagananathan’s life and career. Ajantha Madurapperuma, the President of the APB and Senior Deputy General Manager of Seylan Bank PLC spoke of Sivagananathan as an example to youth entering the banking field, as he began his career at a early age and persevered to rise up in the ranks and continually improved professional standards of banking, which continues to be of importance in APB’s own principles.

The evening’s keynote address came from W. A. Wijewardena, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and incumbent Chairman of the Business Management School. During the Memorial Oration titled "The Future Challenges for Bankers", Wijewardena paid homage to Sivagananathan’s achievements throughout his career, crediting his role in overhauling the automated clearing house in the Central Bank and giving the bank a stronger international affiliation, as he helped facilitate its association with the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) London.

He praised Sivagananathan’s skill as a teacher - the ease with which he explained unit trusts to his colleagues to lead to development of the first unit trust in Sri Lanka. He also complimented the hard workmanship and sense of strict discipline of this illustrious banker in every aspect of his job, saying he had a talent "to see beyond what ordinary people can see" as he understood and continually expanded his grasp of banking.

In prospecting what the future of banking will look like in Sri Lanka and throughout the world, Wijewardena expressed concern that the increasing technological advancements will impose on the human aspect of banking. He mused that banks undergo the most rapid changes compared to any institution and what comes with this is a reliance on machines to keep up with growing developments.

"This presents a challenge to bankers because as human beings, they are inferior when it comes to storing information. It is also important to promote the next generation of bankers as the most experienced current bankers age and retire".

Deshamanya A. S. Jayawardena, Chairman of Bartleet Trans-Capital Ltd., and former Governor of the Central Bank, also stressed the human importance in banking as it is and should be a "people business". He agreed that the financial system is constantly changing and because of this, individuals in the banking profession "cannot survive unless constantly learning and upgrading yourself." He drew on Sivagananathan as an example of someone who sought to learn and grow with the business and thus, was able to improve the professional standards of banking. Both Wijewardena and Jayawardena were hopeful that learning will remain part of banking culture as it moves forward.

K. Sivagananathan’s son, Nathan Sivagananathan, spoke last to give an overview of the KSMT’s mission and successes over the past eight years Established on July 7, 2002, KSMT has been dedicated to providing financial assistance to disadvantaged students wishing to pursue careers in banking and finance and also encouraging them to excel in their examinations and strive to create a higher standard of equality with developed countries.

KSMT has given 387 cash awards since 2003 and has also donated two million rupees to schools and setting up colleges in Sri Lanka. Sixty students received awards for the March and September 2009 examinations, up from 29 students in 2008. The students have excelled in the Diploma Banking and Finance examinations conducted by the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL), by obtaining the highest marks for each subject in three languages: Sinhala, Tamil, and English.

The students are not just Colombo based, coming from various regions throughout the country, and 50% of the recipients are female. This diversity is a point of pride for the organization, as it extends the measure of opportunity the Trust is able to give. Each student will go on to complete further studies in the areas of banking and finance, keeping up with K. Sivagananathan’s tradition of hard work and dedication in the promotion of professional banking in Sri Lanka.