Arjuna Mahendran

Arjuna Mahendran is a Sri Lankan Tamil born Singaporean economist and banker.^[1] He is the current Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, having been appointed by president Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015.^[2] He was the former Managing Director of HSBC Private Bank, Chief Investment Officer of Emirates NBD as well as Chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.^[3]

Educated at the prestigious Royal College, Colombo^[4] and at Balliol College, Oxford, he gained a MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Having joined the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, he had served as a senior economist before moving into investment banking in Singapore going on to serve as Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist-Asia at HSBC Private Bank after which he served as Chief Investment Officer-Wealth Management division at Emirates NBD. From 2001 to 2004 he served as Chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI).^[5] In January 2015 he was appointed as Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.^[6]

Controversy

Mahendran Was accused of stealing close to 40 billion Sri Lankan Rupees ($500 million) while he was governor of central bank of Sri Lanka through Insider Trading. It is believed that he carried out this operation through a Central bank bond issue which was only informed to a company that belongs to his son in law. This situation became controversial political issue in Sri Lanka as the newly elected Sri Lankan Government of President Maithreepala Sirisena came to power with a slogan of good governance in the country. ^[7]

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