Ravi K takes up stock market ills in P’ment; Amunugama reassures

Thursday, 5 June 2014 01:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake yesterday told the House the issuing of a warning letter would not stop malpractices by stockbrokers and investment advisors, but they would continue on a different scale which would demoralise investors. However, Minister of International Monetary Co-operation and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Sarath Amunugama stated the issuing of a letter depended on the gravity of the offence and the penalty varied accordingly. “Such action will impact a stock exchange where 95% of the portfolios are held by 3% of investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission is there to protect the small investors but they just issue a final warning letter. You say matters are resolved by compounding them,” charged MP Karunanayake, who also requested the Government to bring down brokerage and create a system to have more buoyancy. “I don’t agree with you that investors doubt our stock market,” said Minister Amunugama in response to a supplementary question raised by MP Karunanayake. According to Minister Amunugama, 14 market manipulation cases were investigated in 2011 as highlighted by former SEC Chairpersons Indrani Sugathadasa and Thilak Karunaratne. “It was found that eight of those offences were committed by the same group of investment advisors. In 2012, three cases were investigated by the SEC,” the Minister confirmed. (AH)

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