By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
Colombo’s broking community was buzzing over news that some stockbrokers had visited former president Mahinda Rajapaksa at his residence in Hambantota earlier this month.
“On Poya Day (1 July) some of them met Mr. Rajapaksa at his residence,” one source told the Business Times. It was unclear as to why they went there while speculation ranged from pledging support at the upcoming elections to trying to get a hold on the current political situation. Mr. Rajapaksa who was seen as ‘friendly’ towards the stock market, exactly three years ago (July 2012) summoned powerful stock market investors and regulators at a pre-budget discussion to ascertain the needs of the industry. After that the then Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Thilak Karunaratne (now in his second stint as the SEC Chairman) resigned.
This was the second time that the former president had intervened in the market at the request of some powerful 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’.
Colombo’s broking community was buzzing over news that some stockbrokers had visited former president Mahinda Rajapaksa at his residence in Hambantota earlier this month.
“On Poya Day (1 July) some of them met Mr. Rajapaksa at his residence,” one source told the Business Times. It was unclear as to why they went there while speculation ranged from pledging support at the upcoming elections to trying to get a hold on the current political situation. Mr. Rajapaksa who was seen as ‘friendly’ towards the stock market, exactly three years ago (July 2012) summoned powerful stock market investors and regulators at a pre-budget discussion to ascertain the needs of the industry. After that the then Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Thilak Karunaratne (now in his second stint as the SEC Chairman) resigned.
This was the second time that the former president had intervened in the market at the request of some powerful 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’.
www.sundaytimes.lk
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