Financial Times

SEC probes Ondaatjie transactions
Hotelier George Ondaatjie, who is also a Colombo Stock Exchange director, is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged insider dealing, stock brokers said.

The SEC has been investigating allegations of insider dealing against Ondaatjie in the trading of shares in a hotel company. The SEC has issued a notice of action on Ondaatjie after getting an opinion from the Attorney General's Department.

Ondaatjie is chairman of Mercantile Investments Ltd and has interests in a number of hotels. He said the dispute is regarding the Kandy Hotels stocks. "I sold my Ceylon Hotels Corporation shares last year and don't know anything about the Kandy Hotels stocks transaction," he said.

If there was a doubt about any price-sensitive information being available, the Ceylon Hotels Corporation and Kandy Hotels should have informed the CSE, he added.

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