HNBA News

Contemporary  business  practices  in  the  21stcentury  revolvesaround business  ethicsand   corporate   social   responsibility.Every   businessventurestrivesto   do „good‟especially within thecommunities which they operate in.Challengingthe established corporate  norm  and  the  clichéd  meaning  of „corporate  social  responsibility‟,  HNB Assurance (HNBA) drove many CSR initiativesduring the course of 2017to portray thetruemeaning of being a socially responsible corporatecitizen. Sharing his views, Managing Director/CEO of HNBA and its   fully   owned   subsidiary   HNB   General   Insurance Limited,  Deepthi  Lokuarachchi  stated  “as  a  businessfocused   onprotectionand   wellbeing   ofpeople,   we challenge  ourselvesto  drivesocial  and  environmental change.The    Grouppays    great    emphasis    on    the communitywhichit  operates  in,  the  environment  and its  people.Great  efforts  are  made  across  the Groupto ensurethateverypossible    measureis    taken    to minimize  the  impact  on  the  environmentand uplift  the lives ofpeople. The Grouphas categorized its corporate philanthropy into   sevenmain   focus   areas. Our   ultimate   goalis   to   protect   our community  and help  them  smileand with  every  step  taken,  we strike  tocreate  a meaningfuldifference andenrich the living standards of thepeople”. Under  the award  winning Water  Stewardship  program of  the  Company 04  schools  were  provided  access  to clean  drinking  water  during  the  year, bringingthe  total of such facilities provided to 50 schools with over 6,500 students.    Speaking    on    the    CSR    activities    of    the Company,  Dinesh  Yogaratnam,  Head  of  Marketing  of HNBA  and  HNBGI  stated,  “Amongst  several  other
significant CSR initiatives, HNBA sponsored the Deaf Cricket Team of Sri Lanka for the 3rdAsia  Deaf  Cricket  Cup  which  was  held  in  Hyderabad,  Indiaunder  the  category  of sports. The  Company  provided  financial  assistance  to  veteran  artists  during  2017 under the category of arts and culture. We have beena part of a school rehabilitation program  which  focused  on  developing  infrastructure  of  underprivileged  schools  and has  provided  multiple  scholarships  for  university  students  under  the  category  of education.Our Corporate Stewardship initiatives endeavors to touch as many lives as possible in areas that we feel has the most pressing need. We will continue to do our part, in our own way to help enliven and uplift the lives of those in our community”.

HNB  Assurance  PLC  (HNBA)  announced  the  appointment  of Mr. Ravi Abeysuriya as a Non-ExecutiveIndependent Director.This appointment   is   made   subject   to   the   approval   of   the Insurance Regulatory   Commission   of   Sri   Lanka.Accordingly,   the   Board   of Directors   of   HNBA   comprises   of   Mrs.   Rose   Cooray,   Mr.   Sarath Ratwatte,  Mr.  Mahendra  Jayasekera, Mr.  Dilshan  Rodrigo,  Mrs.  SiromiWickramasinghe, Dr. Sivakumar Selliah, Mr. Deepthi Lokuarachchi, Mr. Rajive Dissanayakeand Mr. Ravi Abeysuriya. A Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants,Chartered Financial Analyst  and  an  MBA  holder  ofMonash  University,  Australia,  Mr.  Abeysuriya currently  holds the position of Group Director of Candor Group, one of the largest listed companies in Kuwait. Mr.  Abeysuriya  is  currently  responsible  for  private equity  investments  for  a  200  MN  Dollar Private  Equity  Fund.  Prior  to  his  current  role,  Mr.  Abeysuriya  served  Hayleys  Group  as  the Head  of  Strategic  Business  Development,  JP  Morgan  as  the  Head  of  Corporate  Finance  and was  the  Managing  Director  of  Amba  Research  Lanka  and  was  the  Managing  Director/CEO  of Fitch Ratings Lanka. Mr. Abeysuriya has held several senior positionsin Private Equity Investment, consulting the World Bank andthe Government of Sri Lanka and has functioned as a permanent member of the Financial Sector Reforms Committee (FSRC), a Prime Ministerial Task Force appointment. Mr.   Abeysuriya   was   appointed   a   Commission   Member   of   the   Securities   and   Exchange Commission  of Sri  Lanka.  He  was  appointed as a  Director  of  Sri  Lanka  Insurance  Corporation and  was  the  Chairman  of  the  Investment  Committee.  In  addition,  Mr.  Abeysuriyawas  the immediate   past   President   of   Colombo   Stock   Brokers   Association.   Former   President   of Chartered Financial AnalystSociety of Sri Lanka, President of IT Enabled Services Association(ITESA) and  Vice  President  of Sri  Lanka  Association  of  Software  and  Service  Companies(SLASSCOM)and   is   the   current   President   of   the   Association   of   Alternative   Financial Institutions  and  a  Member  of  the  National  Agenda  Committee  of  the  Ceylon  Chamber  of Commerce.

The  Life  Claims  Department  of HNB    Assurance    PLC    (HNBA)obtainedthe    certification    in compliance with ISO 9001  : 2015 for  its service  standards.    TheLife Claims Departmentqualifiedfor   this   certification upon being independently audited and meeting the specific criterion.The   certification   was   issued   for   the   Claims   Process   followed throughout,from claim intimation to claim settlement. Sharing his thoughts, Managing Director/CEO of HNBA and its fully owned subsidiary HNB  General  Insurance  Limited,  Deepthi  Lokuarachchistated  “our primary goalin customerservicehas   always   been   focused   on   its   assured   qualityand   theISO certification  affirms  the  effectiveness  of  the  consistent  service  providedover  the years.  This  certification  demonstratesour  commitment  towards  our  customers  and outlines   the   cutting-edge   practices   the   Company   follows   throughout   its   Claims Settlement Process”. Speaking   on   the   ISO   certification,   Chief   Operating   Officer   of   HNBA,   Prasantha Fernando stated “As an entity highly focussed on quality, we are honoured toearn the ISO   certification   and   thisprovides   that   additional   degree   of   assurance   to   our stakeholders  of  our  continuous  improvements inour  service  quality standardsand deliverables”. Chief  Technical  Officer  of HNBA, Dinesh Udawatta stated “I’m indeed grateful to the entire team for  embarking  on  thisjourney  to  obtainthe world’s most popular quality management  servicecertification as  well  asfor  maintaining  a  servicestandardof highqualitythroughout  the  years.I  am  confident  that  this  certification  will  bolster
our  resolve  to  push  the  envelope  of  customer  service  further  and  to  continue  toprovide a superlative service to our patronage”.