SEC – bringing sanity into the market
Sanity is slowly being restored at the 28th and 29th floors in the East Tower of the World Trade Centre.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) situated on these floors with new Chairman Thilak Karunaratne in the hot seat is regaining its lost integrity, according to those close to the regulatory authority.
A new Commission together with a new Director General is likely to be appointed this week. Mr. Karunaratne is to call up a commission meeting in a few days time, informed sources say. A new Director General has also been zeroed in on according to them.
Mr. Karunaratne has held discussions with the departments individually last week. SEC sources said that he wasn’t in favour of the roadshows and investment promotion efforts by the SEC during the past.
“He probably won’t continue with them as there’s been a colossal amount of cash spent on them by the SEC,” a source told the Business Times. Next up was the roadshow to Australia – probably next month, which was to be targeted at the Diaspora. Meanwhile the Colombo share market was positive on Friday with analysts saying that high valued shares were the order of the day.
The core All Share gained by 1.61 per cent to close at 7,160.84 while the S&P SL index ended up by 2.52 per cent at 3,950.94 points on Rs. 2 billion in turnover. Investors reacted adversely to the ‘super gain tax’ of 25 per cent on companies or individuals who earned over 2 billion rupees profits with the market sliding but recovering on Thursday and Friday.