Vignarajah asks SEC to half Plc delisting so CSE keeps value

Following are excerpts of a letter written by independent minority shareholder interest promoter K.C. Vignarajah to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Tilak Karunaratne.

1.You, the much respected new Chairman of SEC, came out strongly, by listing the minimum needed action to create a vibrant clean ‘market’. 

2.You must take the honour of doing a sacred national duty; to protect the human and fundamental rights of every decent investor to retain the value and marketability of their hard-earned savings and investments. Equity investments are critical for ensuring a booming enterprise economy.

3.Sly, smooth-talking cabals are assisting unscrupulous attempts to delist tremendously valuable Plcs. They rob investors’ value and take them out, away from the CSE. The SEC, CSE, the Government and institutions patronised by the Government must perform their duties. 

4.Encouraged and assured of efficient and effective investor protection, regulatory supervision and enforcement, the Average Decent Citizen (ADCs) and Genuine Foreign Investors (GFI) and institutions will come in torrents to support your efforts to uplift Sri Lanka’s stock market.

5.Natural justice, must transcend, inter-alia, the wiles of cabals of crooked, elitist pretenders, who get together to distort and the real spirit of the laws, rules and regulations. They do this via ‘codes of ethics’, ‘conduct’ and even ‘good governance’. It is hilarious, if not for the tragic consequences. They change it, when they flout it. 

6.It is alleged that some chamber leaders have breached the code of ethics and now want to change time-tested values, to modernise them.

The proposal by the Chairman SEC for ‘whistleblowing’ as a mandatory requirement, by the auditors and/or officials is most timely. It is there as a duty, either specifically or covered generally, in all good jurisdictions. It is a duty of every citizen to report crime. However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Sri Lanka (CASL) wants to include “whistleblowing” only, as part of their never-respected ‘Code of Ethics’. The CA’s claim of contrary to professional ethics of confidentiality of clients’ affairs is really laughable. The clients are the shareholders, not the CI&RP or management whose activities they are supposed to audit. 

Finance Minister Ravi K, himself a CA,  slammed them as contributing to fraud, as without their knowledge and/or participation such massive corruption and fraud in the corporate and state sectors  could not have taken place.

7.True excellence of thought on governance, investments and economic growth, has been well displayed by President Maithri

(MS), Prime Minister Ranil (RW),the Deputy Economic Affairs Development and Investment, deputy ministers Dr. Harsha de S, Eran W and other honest Ministers, Members, of the Common Front (CF), and yourself as SEC chief. All of them promised to nab the wrongdoers, recover the loot and fully compensate the victims, while ensuring deterrent penalties, in order that enterprising, innocent Investors are not ravished and impoverished to provide for the criminal, unjust enrichment of a few. 

Errant CI&RP have become extremely rich through criminality, without a tinge of remorse or regret. False, politically-motivated, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities cannot hide or atone for those crimes.

People have noted them and have booted out the political gangs which patronise/depend on the crooked CI&RP. The best ‘CSR’ is to ensure good governance, the best return on investment, with regular cash and scrip dividends payouts, revaluations, etc., for their trusting shareholders (small partners). Many phony political ‘CSR shows’ are put up invariably  to cover up a really woeful record of ruthless exploitation of independent shareholders, the investing public and the country.

Dear Chairman, you yourself were at the bitter receiving end of concerted ‘mafia action’ and had to quit your post two years ago. Market manipulators, insider dealers, pump-and-dump artistes and money launderers committed white-collar crimes and brazenly got away. It was cool. Now you must please send them fast to the cooler, if they don’t repent and compensate adequately.  They must not be allowed to be company directors for long periods.

Deceiving, Corrupt, Crony Capitalism (D3Cs) was riding high while the enlightened Creative, Competitive, Caring Capitalist entrepreneurs (e4Cs) were ignored, isolated or ridiculed. The worst of times is hopefully over. The best of times must come soon to  our beloved beautiful Sri Lanka with ‘Yahapalana’.

A torrent of lies and false propaganda will fully distort the 100-day achievements. A few slip-ups have been blown out of proportion. The Government is not hiding them, there are many investigations going on. (Is above 75% success not a distinction?).            

Action now is crucial to show convincing results within the next two months at  most.  The people will then cheer MS-RW & CF on to repeat the splendid performance of the 8 January Presidential Elections. 

With a quick administrative and legislative reversal of mafia-engineered procedures, rules, codes. A well-intended Company Law Commission presided by the magnificent, munificent Lord Iswaran, gave away too many boons to the Corporate Ravanas.  He roared, “Barbarians are at the gates of the Temple of Justice,”when CJ 43 was threatened. Eminent Romesh de Silva, brave instructing attorney K. Neelakandanand and a host of others including the magnificent President Upul Jayasuriya of BASL (Bar Association of Sri Lanka) supported CJ 43. TISL, CPA, CMIOG, Friday Forum, FNst and numerous others, stood up for fairness, good governance and justice. Ultimately the simple and honest people effectively meted out justice, and the ‘all powerful’ MR regime was out.

 

Helpless, genuine investors

Untrustworthy ‘Trusts’, Investments and ‘Units’ are promoted. Harried and harassed investors are made to feel that ‘equities’ are useless, when their real potential is high. Tax-free high-yield debentures and corporate debt (which burdens the companies compared to equities) casinos,  and kassipu are better alternatives they say. “Exchange rate and interest rate manipulation, sudden changes in import and export duty rates, and timing helped the racketeers to loot,” say helpless, genuine investors.

When is the magnificent team of public-spirited lawyers, civil rights and good governance activists going to roar and grapple to cleanse the CSE, where reportedly the barbarians and mafia have already jumped over the gates? The clarifications and amendments to the laws, rules and regulations have to be made immediately,to rope in all the wrongdoers, as otherwise they will overwhelm the brave Chairman Thilak K. and devour  the investors and destroy the investment potential of the CSE. Even the Government could be in peril.

The corporate mafia pretends to be friends with the Government but, with its far-reaching subterranean and submerged tentacles, is posing embarrassing questions to create adverse public opinion, about the Government.

They tried to create unnecessary and unwarranted panic to put the Government on the defensive. The patterns of trade of the mafia must be investigated. It is alleged that a huge amount of foreign inflows and outflows are manipulated by the mafia acting through connected parties.

The President, Prime Minister, Cabinet spokesman, Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers concerned Economic Affairs, Finance, Development and Investments and Chairman SEC, had rightly pointed out the urgent need to act fast to close the loopholes and have effective legislation to go after the crooks who plundered the shareholders and the country. It is a necessity that they recover the loot and compensate IMS victims. They must also impose deterrent penalties.

The investing public, the IMS request that the De-listing process of public listed companies (PLCs) must be stopped immediately and relevant Plcs investigated at once, for many malpractices.

I will send part II with some important examples justifying above.

Thanking you for your urgent attention and action.