SEC and CSE complete third phase of digitalization initiative of stock market

Source:Island

A special market opening ceremony was organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) under the patronage of Viraj Dayaratne, President’s Counsel, chairman of the SEC, to mark the third phase of digitalization of the Sri Lankan capital market and to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the SEC.

The launch event, themed ‘Sri Lankan Capital Market – The Odyssey’, was also attended by Dilshan Wirasekara, chairman of the CSE, SEC Commission Members, Chinthaka Mendis, Director General of the SEC Naresh Abeyesekara, SEC/CSE Joint Committee Chairman for Digitalization, CSE Board of Directors and Rajeeva Bandaranaike, Chief Executive Officer of the CSE, stock broker firms, SEC management and CSE management.

A joint committee was formed by the chairman of the SEC, Viraj Dayaratne, with the objective of identifying measures and mechanisms required for the Colombo stock market to conduct its core activities digitally. The committee comprised representatives from the SEC and the CSE and has worked towards converting paper-based statements to electronic forms. The committee launched a transformative digital offering through the CSE Mobile App, an end-to-end digital onboarding and online account opening feature.

In the third phase, the committee explored avenues to bring in investments from retail investors living outside of Sri Lanka. The committee developed infrastructure to offer convenient registration and investment opportunities to these foreign investors. Fourteen new features were also introduced as part of the third phase of digitalization.

CSE chairman, Dilshan Wirasekara, while welcoming all those present thanked and appreciated the joint effort of the SEC and CSE in digitalizing the capital market operations. He said that the CSE is looking forward to its journey ahead, in terms of broadening the organization and truly living up to its vision of creating wealth and value and stressed that the CSE would not just develop the market but also work as a partner to develop the country in the face of the existing economic crisis.

SEC chairman, Viraj Dayaratne PC stated that, “The market could not be opened for trading with the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020, since not every function of the market could be carried out without a physical presence. The need to digitalize end-to-end operations of the market was badly felt and as a result a joint committee of the SEC and CSE was appointed to carry out the digitalization initiative.”