LSE in talks with CSE over share trading

Tuesday, 5 July 2011 00:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

(Reuters): The London Stock Exchange is in talks with Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission over allowing trading of some of the island nation’s shares on the London bourse and vice versa, a regulator official said.

An agreement will help Sri Lanka’s selected blue chips to be traded in London, opening up its market to foreign investors. “This is still in an initial stage. We hope to progress after the discussion and if happens, it will be a great opportunity for Sri Lanka,” Malik Cader, the director general of the SEC told Reuters in the sidelines of a national economic forum in Colombo.

Cader declined to comment on the time frame for the process.

The LSE , which was forced to abort its $3.5 billion merger with Canada’s TMX Group last week, has links with Sri Lanka after buying Sri Lankan technology company, Millennium IT.

The SEC is encouraging foreign companies to list on the Colombo Stock Exchange in order to get access to trade their shares in London market.