Mr. Theja Silva
Attorney-at-Law | Rep. Sri Lanka Bankers Association
Profile
Mr. Theja Silva is presently leading the Legal department of Sampath Bank PLC as Deputy General Manager / Chief Legal Officer. He counts over 30 years as a corporate counsel including 25 years as the chief legal officer of a Licensed Commercial Bank.
He holds an honours degree in law and a Masters degree in law from the faculty of law of the University of Colombo. A qualified compliance professional, he is a professional member of the International Compliance Association.
He serves as a member of the Legislative steering committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He is also an executive committee member of the Association of Corporate Lawyers. He has also served as the Chairman of the sports sub committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.
Prior to joining the banking sector in 1993 he served as a lecturer teaching law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo. He also served as an examiner and a visiting lecturer for the Master of Laws programme at the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo. Having joined the banking sector, he served as a legal officer at DFCC Bank from 1993 to 2000, the Company Secretary and Head of legal of Nations Trust Bank PLC from 2000 to 2023 and very briefly as the Senior Vice President Legal and company secretary at Union Bank of Colombo PLC from 2023 to 2024 .
He has also successfully completed the Mini MBA for In-house Lawyers at the Cambridge Legal Summer school in Cambridge UK ( Summer 2015) and the summer school course on Managing and leading an effective in-house legal department in Cambridge UK ( 2010)
- Representing: Sri Lanka Bankers Association (SLBA)
- About the Institution: The SLBA is an umbrella body incorporated by its member banks, which includes Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) and Licensed Specialised Banks (LSBs) operating in Sri Lanka. It serves as the primary voice of the banking sector, facilitating collaborative dialogue between financial institutions, regulatory bodies (like the Central Bank of Sri Lanka), and government agencies to ensure financial policy advocacy, systemic stability, and the integration of sustainable banking initiatives.