SEC program to promote securities market

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) will embark on a program to educate the public on the opportunities, benefits and protection offered by the securities market.

Chairman of the SEC Udayasri Kariyawasam said Sri Lankans are more into savings than investing on the stock market which gives higher returns on their investments. Most people deposit money in finance companies, which are not even registered with the Central Bank to obtain higher returns on their deposits.

Even without any impact on the global financial crisis some of these financial institutions collapsed causing many problems to depositors.

With the fall of these finance companies people are today looking for more viable and secure channels to invest money. This is a good opportunity to attract more investors to the stock market.

However, there is lack of knowledge among the public on the capital market, he said.

The capital market is well regulated and its operations are done in keeping with international standards. In Sri Lanka there is a big demand for debt capital. However, the equity capital market help for free fund mobilization and cost of capital is low, he said.

Through this campaign we expect to attract more individual investors to invest in the stock market and encourage more public and private sector companies to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, (CSE) he said.

Foreign participation in the CSE will create a highly volatile market and there should be more local participation to avoid this situation. Through this campaign the SEC expects to target the Sri Lankan diaspora, he said.

“We expect more women participation in the stock market activities by promoting the capital market among housewives. The pensioners too are another important segment, he said.

AS