At the recently concluded conference and awards presentation of the Association of the Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), the largest global gathering of Development Financing Institutions, Nihal Fonseka, the Chief Executive of DFCC Bank was recognised as the Outstanding CEO of the year.

Nihal Fonseka (Center) recipient of the CEO’s award with Chairman ADFIAP, Ambassador J.P Tambunting (right) and Chairman DFCC Bank, Rajan Brito (left).

The ‘Outstanding CEO’s Award’ is given to a practicing chief executive officer whose singular talent, leadership, vision and achievement, in the judgement of the ADFIAP Awards Board, stands out among the other nominees for the award. Without focusing on the size of the institution, the judges assess the stature of the individual, the positive effect that the person's leadership has had on his or her institution, and the impact this leader's decisions have had on the development banking profession, in particular, and on the development of the country, in general.

It is the first time in the history of the ADFIAP Awards programme that a serving CEO of the conference host institution has won this prestigious award. The citation at the presentation of the awards read;

“Mr Fonseka joined the country’s premier development bank in Year 2000 as its chief executive, after a career spanning 23 years in the banking industry. He is highly regarded as a professional in the financial services by the industry, the business community, multilateral agencies, regulatory authorities and the government. He holds many positions of importance in business associations and think-tanks.

Recognizing the demands imposed by the unusual structure of a non-state-owned DFI, he has worked steadfastly with a view of changing the institution from a “good to great” one in a rapidly changing financial services landscape.

Mr Fonseka has progressively embarked on a series of initiatives to attain this aim and, in particular, committed the institution to invest significantly in automation, centralization of processing, human capital development and product diversification. These initiatives, coupled with strong risk management, greater delegation of authority, accountability and performance-based rewards, have transformed his institution into a forward-looking, modern financial services conglomerate and ranking it among the best in the country as measured by key performance indicators.

Under his 5-year stewardship, the financial performance and strength of his bank grew from year to year. Among these are: a growth of 374% in market capitalization, 250% increase in net profit, return on equity of 14.3% and current earnings per share of 23.56 Rupees.

Mr Fonseka’s vision of his bank as the country’s premier financial services group is premised on his belief that modern-day customers require a full range of financial products and services, without losing sight of balancing this with a social responsibility of supporting entrepreneurship development and creating value for its shareholders.

With these achievements, the Awards Board was unanimous in selecting Mr Nihal Fonseka as worthy of recognition of this CEO Award.”

In accepting the award Mr Fonseka thanked the Board of directors, staff and the “many thousand customers around the country without whom DFCC’s existence has no meaning, senior public officials who have supported DFCC in its evolution to the institution that it is today and the supporters of DFCC in the business community and the media”

ADFIAP is the focal point of all development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of development in the Asia-Pacific region. Its mission is to advance sustainable development through its 64 member insitutions in 32 countires. ADFIAP is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.