The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a ‘substantial’ number of complaints during the past two months pertaining to share market misconduct, SEC sources say.
“We have received files full of complaints. Some are with names and some anonymous,” a source told the Business Times. She said these complaints range from manipulation, insider dreading, pump and dump, stockbrokers and investment advisors misleading smal shareholders, trading on accounts under third party names, etc.
Recently addressing the National Law Conference of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka under the theme ‘Sri Lanka Legal Summit 2015 – Governance, Regulation and Investment – The Way Forward’, Thilak Karunaratne, Chairman SEC said many stocks were pumped and dumped on unsuspecting investors during a stock market bubble which peaked around 2011, adding that those who lost money during the period are still calling and making complaints against some brokers and margin providers to the SEC.
“I am trying to do justice to those who got really played out,” he said, adding that the amendments to the SEC Act may take up to 18 months to be passed in parliament. The new law will no longer allow serious frauds to be “compounded” or to settle with a fine without agreeing to guilt and there will be provisions to encourage whistle blowing and to give bounties.
According to the SEC official, it maybe sometime before all this will be screened. She added that they will have to prioritise.
“We don’t know where to start from, because we’re swamped,” she added.
Industry analysts noted that confidence in the new regime has prompted all these complaints.
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“We have received files full of complaints. Some are with names and some anonymous,” a source told the Business Times. She said these complaints range from manipulation, insider dreading, pump and dump, stockbrokers and investment advisors misleading smal shareholders, trading on accounts under third party names, etc.
Recently addressing the National Law Conference of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka under the theme ‘Sri Lanka Legal Summit 2015 – Governance, Regulation and Investment – The Way Forward’, Thilak Karunaratne, Chairman SEC said many stocks were pumped and dumped on unsuspecting investors during a stock market bubble which peaked around 2011, adding that those who lost money during the period are still calling and making complaints against some brokers and margin providers to the SEC.
“I am trying to do justice to those who got really played out,” he said, adding that the amendments to the SEC Act may take up to 18 months to be passed in parliament. The new law will no longer allow serious frauds to be “compounded” or to settle with a fine without agreeing to guilt and there will be provisions to encourage whistle blowing and to give bounties.
According to the SEC official, it maybe sometime before all this will be screened. She added that they will have to prioritise.
“We don’t know where to start from, because we’re swamped,” she added.
Industry analysts noted that confidence in the new regime has prompted all these complaints.
www.sundaytimes.lk
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