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Bond scam: Amendments to recover Rs. 8.5b from culprits
The Government is to move amendments to recover from all parties concerned the estimated Rs. 8.5 billion loss incurred due to the Treasury Bond scam. The decision was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and an Attorney General’s Department delegation headed by Solicitor General Dappula de Livera on Friday, a senior official said.
For this purpose, an amendment to the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance will be moved. The Sunday Times learns that attention has been drawn to amend clause 21d (5) where the word ‘liability’ is to be replaced by ‘damages’.
The existing clause says, ‘In the event of the Government incurring any liability or making payment of any sum due as principal, interest or redemption proceeds with regard to Scripless Treasury Bonds, and where such liability arises or such payment is made in consequence, or by reason, of any default of a direct participant or a dealer direct participant, such participant shall be liable on demand by the Government, to indemnify the Government with respect to such liability or payment’.
To finalise the proposed amendment, a committee is to be appointed and it will comprise officials from the AG’s Department, the Central Bank and the Treasury. One of the key recommendations of the Bond Commission which probed the alleged scam was that the losses suffered should be recovered from the relevant parties.
The commission was mandated to inquire into the issue of bonds from February 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 and to make recommendations on the steps to be implemented in the future. Friday’s meeting was also attended by Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda, Senior State Counsel Shaheeda Barrie and Avanti Perera and the Prime Minister’s Office Additional Secretary Bimba Tilakaratne, a former Solicitor General.