CSE and SEC conduct first-ever listing forum in Eastern Province

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), in association with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), recently engaged the business community based in the Eastern Province to create awareness over the capital-raising options available to entrepreneurs through a stock exchange listing. The event marked the first occasion a forum on stock exchange listings has been hosted in the Eastern Province. 

The event, which was held in Batticaloa, was part of an awareness drive organised by the CSE and SEC around the country to present the Empower Board, which is the CSE’s listing platform dedicated to SMEs and growth companies. The series has so far reached out to business communities in Anuradhapura, Negombo, Kurunegala, Kandy, Jaffna and Matara.

During the awareness drive, the Empower Board captured the attention of entrepreneurs around the country who seek versatile methods of raising capital to pursue growth. The requirements and the process involved with a listing on the Empower Board have been tailored to address the context of these companies, and are different from the Main and Diri Savi boards. 

The Empower Board aims to attract companies that can demonstrate a stated capital between Rs. 25 million and Rs. 100 million at the point of listing. Apart from access to capital, the Empower Board also offers companies opportunities to access a public market and thereby build a better corporate profile. 

Insights shared at the event offered the business community based in the Eastern Province perspective on the eligibility and standards required for listing on the Empower Board of the CSE, the process involved and a case for actively considering market-based equity capital as a source of funding for growth. 

The speakers at the event included SEC Surveillance Director Prabash Wanigathunge and NDB Investment Bank Assistant Manager Sugirthan Alagesan while CSE officials Chandana Wijesundere, Sheraj Obeysekere and Sivananthan Raman Muthukrishnan also spoke at the event. Empower Board sponsors Citizens Development Business Finance Plc and NDB Investment Bank Ltd. were also present at the forum.