Mufaddal Choonia was appointed as the Managing Director & CEO of Mahindra Ideal Finance, Sri Lanka, in July 2024 and is responsible to run all the affairs of the company on a day-to-day basis. A professional with over 15 years of rich international experience (of a total experience of 25 years), Mufaddal has played various critical roles where he has set up from grounds up and then led, businesses and functions in many geographies across India, Europe and the Middle East. Prior to this role, he held the position of Dy. Senior Vice President – Emerging Markets, at Mahindra Finance in India, where he was responsible for leading Mahindra Finance’s entry into India like Asian markets.

Mufaddal joined the Mahindra Group in 1999, as part of its flagship Corporate Management Trainee program that nurtures Future Leaders for the Mahindra Group. He has held various key responsibilities in marketing, sales and strategy across the automotive and financial services businesses, as well as the Group Strategy Office of the Mahindra Group. As the first Brand Manager of the “Scorpio”, he was part of the core team that developed and launched the iconic vehicle that in many ways defined the future of the automotive business of the Mahindra Group. He was also the first Marketing Head of Mahindra Finance where he was responsible to launch the company’s first ever integrated marketing campaign as well as first corporate identity program. He was also part of the core team that in the year 2006, launched the Mahindra Finance’s highly successful IPO that was extremely well received at the Indian Stock Exchanges.

Mufaddal has also played the role of the Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Racing SpA, Italy, wherein he set up Mahindra Group’s performance and racing motorcycle development and manufacturing company in Italy. He has also had a stint in the Mahindra Group Strategy Office wherein he was closely involved in supporting various business leaders of the Mahindra Group in helping them develop their long-term business strategies and improve business performance.

Besides the Mahindra Group, Mufaddal has worked with the Emirates Bank Group in Dubai from 2007 to 2009 as Head of Marketing for their consumer finance business called Emirates Money and was part of the leadership team that was responsible in setting up the highly successful business in the UAE.

Mufaddal has completed his Post Graduation in Management from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Mumbai (erstwhile called NITIE). He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Mumbai University.

Counting over 20 years’ experience in Finance, Operations, Treasury, Credit and Risk Management, he holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration – Special Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura.

Among the positions he has held are Senior Manager – Finance at Nations Leasing, the leasing arm of Nations Trust Bank PLC and Assistant General Manager – Treasury and Operations at LB Finance PLC.

Prior to joining Mahindra Mahindra Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited at its inception in April 2012, he was the Head of Credit and Risk Management at Sampath Leasing and Factoring Limited.

Prior to joining Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited Mr. Agarwalla worked in the capacity of General Manager at Mahindra and Mahindra Finance Limited, Head Office, Mumbai. Prior to this he was placed as a Regional Accountant at Mahindra Finance Regional Office, Guwahati (2005 -2017). He is a Chartered Accountant certified by Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (2012 – 2013), Cost and Management Accountant certified by Institute of Cost Accountants of India (2008 – 2011) and Chartered Accountant certified by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (2002 – 2005)

With over 34 years’ experience in Finance, he commenced his career with L B Finance PLC in 1987 and once the gold business was incepted in 1998 was placed in charge of Gold Loan operations and promoted to Senior Manager.

In 2008 he joined Alliance Finance as an Assistant General Manager Gold Loan, continuing in a similar position at Orient Finance Ltd from 2016 until he joined Ideal Finance in 2017. With proven skills he is responsible for promoting and expanding the gold loan product through the entire branch network.

He began his career as a Human Resource Executive in year 2004 at Touchwood Investments PLC. Thereafter, he has joined Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd in 2008 as the Human Resource Manager and he worked at Dialog Axiata PLC under the same capacity since 2018. He has 14 years of experience as a Human Resource Manager in the industry.

He holds a BSc Human Resources Management degree from University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Master of Business Administration from Postgraduate Institute of Management (University of Sri Jayewardenepura)

He has more than twenty years of ICT experience of which 12+ years with the Non -Banking Financial Services industry including Siyapatha Finance PLC and Peoples Leasing PLC. He is an IT professional with a sound knowledge in Banking & Finance operations. Further, he has experience in IT Operation Management, Project Management, IT Infrastructure Solutions Management and IT Security Administration. He is very familiar with Core Banking Solutions with NBFI operations.

He has played many key roles in System Implementation, Project Management , Product Management and Business Solution Architect. He is designated as Assistant General Manager – Information and Communication Technology in his current role where he is responsible for the overall ICT requirements of the company. He is a member of the British Computer Society , BCS-the Chartered Institute for IT – UK and He is also a practitioner of ITIL.

Sameera Kaumudi counts over 16 years of experience in the fields of risk management and compliance. Experienced at financial as well as at non-financial institutions including leading conglomerates with exposure to multiple sectors such as financial services, healthcare, leisure, FMCG, power, insurance, automobile, retail, and media. Prior to joining Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited, she served Softlogic Finance PLC as the Head of Risk Management.

She is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Town and Country Planning from University of Moratuwa. At present, she is reading for her Executive MBA at Commonwealth of Learning.

Commencing as an Audit Trainee at Ernst & Young in 2004, Mr. Galhena has embarked on a journey marked by unwavering dedication and continuous growth with over 18 years of experience in the banking and finance industry.

Having held pivotal positions as the Head of Internal Audit at Siyaptha Finance PLC and Assistant General Manager Internal Audit at Alliance Finance Company PLC, he brings a wealth of strategic insight to Mahindra Ideal Finance Ltd. He has been an instrumental role in the Corporate Management teams in shaping business oriented internal audit practices over last 9 years.

He is a holder of a B.Sc. (Accounting) Special from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka.

He currently holds the position of Assistant General Manager at Mahindra Ideal Finance Ltd.

Mr. Saminda Gammanpila has held the position of Assistant General Manager of Asset- Backed Finance at Abans Finance PLC. He began his career in 1998 as a Banking Assistant at Seylan Bank PLC. In 2004, he joined Nations Trust Bank as a Senior Banking Assistant and was later promoted to Bank Manager of the Gampaha branch. In 2010, he transitioned to Merchant Bank, and by 2012, he was serving as Branch Manager at Vallibel Finance PLC, where he was promoted to Senior Manager – Regions in 2016. In 2020, he joined Fintrex Finance Limited as AGM of Business Development, and in 2022, he became part of Abans Finance PLC. With a total of 12 years of experience in banking and another 12 years in finance, Mr. Gammanpila brings a wealth of expertise to his role.