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The silence continues ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry into insider dealing allegations against its own chairman and former directors of the Aitken Spence conglomerate is still continuing with all parties involved in the case remaining silent.
SEC commissioners are scheduled to meet tomorrow after which the watchdog body might make an announcement on the case, Acting Chairman of the SEC, Nihal Jinasena, said.

He said the commissioners were looking into the matter with utmost seriousness and that he could not specify a date on which a final decision would be made. When asked why the inquiry was taking so long, Jinasena said that there was no need to hurry in arriving at a final decision, and requested the media to be patient.
“You must understand that the SEC commissioners are men of standing, and would do everything possible to arrive at the correct decision.”

It is now more than a month since the Attorney General’s Department advised the SEC that there appeared to be a prima facie case against Michael Mack and two other ex-directors of Aitken Spence in the alleged insider dealing case.

The SEC is probing the sale of Aitken Spence shares during May-June by three former directors of the company and their family members. The former directors are Mack, Norman Gunewardene (both former chairmen of the firm), and Manil de Mel.
The SEC is also probing the sale of shares by Gunewardene’s son, Ajit Gunewardene, who is chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Pramuka management under severe pressure to resign
Stakeholders in the troubled Pramuka Savings and Development Bank have demanded the resignation of the management. “The bank cannot function as a viable entity with these people,” said Sunimal Dabrera, president of the Stakeholders’ Association said.

Their aim is to combine shareholders, depositors, borrowers and any person whose business has been disrupted due to the closure of the bank and make representations to the government. Dabrera said they would be compelled to ask the Central Bank to remove the bank’s management if they did not resign of their own accord.

The Association invites people who have a genuine interest in the bank to enroll and work towards the reopening of the bank. The Association’s “sole priority is the reopening of the bank so that the stakeholders don’t lose anything further”, said Dabrera.

The probe into Pramuka’s financial health has widened with the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board starting its own investigation into its accounts to ascertain whether the bank has violated Sri Lanka accounting and auditing standards.

The suspension of Pramuka following initial investigations by the Central Bank has cast serious doubts in the minds of depositors about the role of auditors in safeguarding their interests. Pramuka auditors Ford Rhodes, Thornton and Co. had qualified the accounts for the year 2001, and had not raised any doubts about Pramuka’s as a going concern, but had made mention of the valuation reports of properties.

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