SEC Chief calls for common regulatory platform
Sri Lanka’s capital market regulator yesterday highlighted the need for a joint regulatory mechanism within the South Asian region to promote more investments to the region and to create regulatory consistency.
“I wish to reiterate the importance of formulating a joint regulatory mechanism while safeguarding the sovereignty of the respective nations and unique characteristics in each of our markets,” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Tilak Karunaratne said.
“Joint initiatives should be taken to address overlapping concerns and interests,” he added.
Karunaratne said apart from achieving the fundamental objectives of securities regulation such and protecting investor interest and ensuring a level-playing field, the regulators in the region should try to focus on facilitating enforcement of securities laws across borders.
According to him, this should enhance regulatory consistency for international market participants and moreover combat the ill effects of over dependence within the region.
Karunaratne was addressing a regional investment conference in Colombo, organised by the South Asian Federation of Exchanges and Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE).
The SEC has been in a lengthy process for some time fine tuning its Act in order to keep up with the changes in global capital markets and best practices.
The CSE is currently engaged in a demutualization process, which is awaiting Parliament nod “in the not too distant future.”
The SEC, CSE and Central Bank have also jointly initiated a programme to implement the Counter Party Payment (CPP) system to mitigate to transaction risks.
Meanwhile, echoing what Karunaratne said, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Deputy General Manager B.J. Dilip during a panel discussion at the event identified the need for uniform grounds within the region in the areas of disclosures, corporate governance, enforcement, listing requirements, etc.
He also noted that regulators in the region should work on crossborder listings.
Bangladesh SEC Executive Director Mohammad Mahbubul Alam said that they were looking for help from neighbouring countries and other regulators in activating the regulatory front for regional integration and bilateral progression.