CSE mulls voluntary listing of BoI firms
Shirajiv Sirimane
More Sri Lankan companies and banks should be listed in the Colombo
Stock Exchange, Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gamini
Wickramasinghe said.
He said in 2006 only two companies were listed in the Colombo Stock
Exchange while last year only a handful of companies were listed. "This
is not at all sufficient and I believe more companies should be listed,"
he said.
The CSE will also look at the possibility for BoI registered
companies to be listed in the Stock Exchange on a voluntarily basis.
There is no bar for Government institutions to enter the stock market
subject to Government controls. "We have noted that there are some
government institutions, which are running like private institutions,
and they can facilitate to enter the stock exchange," he said.
Wickramasinghe also Chairman of Bank of Ceylon said the SEC is ready
to create a special board for new companies as an incentive for them. He
said local commercial banks could take a lead in this. In China almost
all the banks are registered with the stock exchange while in Vietnam
too this trend is catching up.
He also said more private and public sector partnerships should take
off the ground as is happening in other neighbouring countries. "The
Cochin airport in India is developed in this manner and Sri Lanka too
should take a lease from it," he said.
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is the main stock exchange in Sri
Lanka. It is one of the most modern exchanges in South Asia, providing a
fully automated trading platform.
The vision of the CSE is to contribute to the wealth of the nation by
creating value through securities. CSE established in 1995, has branches
in Kandy, Matara, Kurunegala and Negombo.
Share trading in Sri Lanka dates back to 1896 when the Colombo
Brokers Association commenced the share trading in limited liability
companies, which were, involved in opening plantations in Sri Lanka. |