Deliberate attempt to stifle investment promotion
Certain vested interests are conniving against the present regime by rubbishing the Colombo Stock Exchange’s (CSE) recent efforts in the UK to lure foreign investments, insiders say.
A high-ranking official in the previous regime has visited certain foreign investors in London to negate the sentiment created by the CSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission-organised road shows in mid-October in the UK. Insiders say that he is known to foreign investors as he had dealt with them during his tenure as the head of an important agency.
The Business Times learns from contacts in the UK that this individual together with some of his family members with connections to certain investors have been meeting with these investors. Early this month CSE and SEC officials urged UK-based investors to partner and profit from new resurgence and opportunity in the country under better governance and supportive policies. Nearly 150 London-based fund managers, investment advisors and investors attended the event.
A high-level Sri Lankan delegation representing the Government of Sri Lanka, the Central Bank, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, the Colombo Stock Exchange, Sri Lankan listed companies and Stock broker representatives were at the Forum to collectively make a case for the Sri Lankan capital market.
The Forum was offered a strong endorsement from the CEO of the London Stock Exchange PLC Nikhil Rathi, who spoke of the potential value of investing in Sri Lanka, stating that the London Stock Exchange Group is one of the largest direct investors in Sri Lanka. “It is not fair by the country to undo all that was done at this road show,” an official who participated at the events, told the Business Times.