CA Lekhanath Pokhrel is a distinguished Chartered Accountant, governance specialist, and financial strategist with over 14 years of extensive experience across commercial banking, investment banking, internal audit, and regulatory compliance. A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN), he has built a reputation as a transformative leader with a strong command of financial governance, risk management, and institutional capacity building.

As Managing Director & CEO of Nepal SBI Merchant Banking Limited, CA Pokhrel led a major strategic turnaround—steering the organization to its highest-ever profitability and one of the strongest dividend performances in the industry. His leadership was marked by disciplined financial stewardship, operational restructuring, digital process optimization, and a renewed focus on long-term value creation.

Before assuming the CEO role, he held several senior executive positions at Nepal SBI Bank Ltd., including:

• Head of Internal Audit
• Head of Accounts Department
• Head of Province Office
  
  

Across these roles, he demonstrated exceptional proficiency in risk management, audit governance, financial reporting, internal control systems, regulatory compliance, and policy development. He played a central role in designing, institutionalizing, and operationalizing Risk-Based Internal Audit (RBIA) frameworks—significantly strengthening risk  and control cultures across the institution. CA Pokhrel’s specialized expertise spans:

• Investment banking operations
• Financial structuring & transaction advisory
• Mergers & acquisitions (M&A)
• Corporate governance frameworks
• Banking regulations & compliance systems
• Strategic and forensic risk assessment

He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and holds a certification in Forensic Accounting and Fraud Detection (FAFD), equipping him with advanced competencies in forensic reviews, fraud investigations, AML/CFT compliance, and control diagnostics.

Complementing his technical qualifications, CA Pokhrel holds an LLB and is currently pursuing an Executive MBA, bringing together legal insight, financial expertise, and strategic leadership capability. He has also completed advanced executive training from IIM Ahmedabad, further strengthening his managerial and analytical acumen.
As a respected resource person for ICAN and the National Banking Institute (NBI), he regularly contributes to national-level capacity-building programs, regulatory compliance training, and policy development initiatives—playing a vital role in elevating governance standards across Nepal’s financial sector.