Rajapaksa summons powerful stock market investors, regulators for Friday meeting

UPDATE-President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called a meeting on Friday with some powerful stock market investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to discuss credit issues, informed sources said.

They said the investors are believed to include Ajit Devasurendera, Nimal Perera, Dhammika Perera and Dilith Jayaweera while top officials from the SEC and the CSE have been summoned. Last week, Mr Devasurendera, who sold his stake in a holding company that controls the Browns Group, is also seen as a powerful player in the bond market.

However, when reached for comment, both Mr Nimal Perera and Mr Jayaweera told TimesOnline that they have not received any invitation to attend any such meeting. The other two - Mr Devasurendera and Mr Dhammika Perera could not be independently reached for confirmation.

The SEC last week extended the credit limits but brokers were unsatisfied and are seeking unrestricted credit saying lack of credit is curbing the market in which the All Share Index has fallen to the 4,840 level.
Independent analysts questioned the wisdom of the President intervening in the market for the second time at the request of investors instead of allowing the regulator, as the case should be in any global marketplace, to regulate and guide the market. On a previous occasion, when SEC officials were under severe pressure, high-net investors arranged a meeting with the President, which eventually resulted in the SEC Chairperson Indrani Sugathadasa throwing in the towel, after resisting and keeping at bay the ‘stockmarket mafia’. Current SEC Chairman Thilak Karunaratne is also under severe pressure from these interested parties, the analysts said. – ENDS -