The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has passed the era of scandals. Two years have passed without a single scandal.
“Our governance levels are very high; over the last two years there’s never been anything you could label as or consider as scandal which warranted any kind of investigations,” assures Ray Abeywardena, the new chairman of the CSE.
He says the CSE is a well regulated market with good settlement procedures and an excellent platform. “We are unfortunately saddled with cases that transpired in the previous era which are still under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He declined to comment on the status of these investigations as the investigations are under SEC.”
The new chairman says he is committed to maintain good governance and a strong focus on sustainable economic growth during his three-year tenure beginning May 5 and is looking forward to luring foreign investors back to the market. He added that the CSE’s recent overseas road shows, especially in Australia and New Zealand were quite successful
“Most foreign investors are interested in banking and corporate stocks; however, we need to get some of the export oriented companies also listed on the export market to see a phenomenal growth,” he said in an interview.
This year, Abeywardena said, road shows are scheduled to be held in Singapore, London and New York. “Apart from Australia, we are also looking at new markets such as China, Japan and the Middle East. In the Middle East we plan to tap the Sri Lankan diaspora,” he said.