Ayanthi Abeyawickrama is a Partner at Varners and has over 30 years of experience as an Attorney-at-Law, having been called to the Bar in 1992. With her prior experience at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and as a counsel, she is able to offer legal guidance to clients in the fields of capital market law, mergers and acquisitions, and other types of commercial and corporate transactions.
Current Practice
Ayanthi advises corporates and private clients in corporate and commercial transactions including corporate due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, and investment structuring.
Other Relevant Experience
She specialises in and is extensively qualified in the field of capital market law and regulations and has gone on to represent Sri Lanka in several capital market conferences in Asia and Europe. Ayanthi had horned her skills in capital market regulation during her stints at the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, the IOSCO Headquarters in Madrid Spain, the London City Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, and at the Securities Commission of Malaysia.
Ayanthi is an Associate of the Toronto Centre Global Leadership in Financial Supervision, and a Certificate holder in Advance Capital Market Regulation of the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR).
In addition, Ayanthi has extensive experience in litigation in the fields of public law, fundamental rights, commercial law, labour law, and family law.
Notable Appointments
Before joining Varners, she served as Director in charge of Legal & Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. She had previously served as the Acting Director of Investigations. Also she has represented the Commission at several Capital Market Conferences in Asia and Europe.
Ayanthi spearheaded the team instrumental in proposing amendments to the previous securities law in order to harmonise Sri Lankan capital market law with the standards of IOSCO; this ultimately paved the way for the enactment of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Act, No. 19 of 2021.
She also served on the team headed by Justice Saleem Marsoof PC Former Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka which developed the final draft of a new Takeovers and Merger Code for the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka and contributed to the development of the SEC Rules on Market Institutions, Market Intermediaries, and on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS).
Attorney-at-Law
Bar Association of Sri Lanka
Women Lawyers Association, Sri Lanka
Associate of Corporate Lawyers, Sri Lanka
Associate of the Toronto Centre Global Leadership in Financial Supervision