The Colombo Stock Exchange

The CSE is the organisation responsible for the operation of the stock market, and being Sri Lanka's only stock exchange, the CSE currently has 15 member firms, 5 trading members and one specialised debt-trading member.

The CSE is a company limited by guarantee established under the Companies Act no. 17 of 1982 and licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) to operate as a stock exchange in Sri Lanka and a Not-for-Profit organisation.

The Stockbroker firms act as market intermediaries performing a number of services to investors and companies. All member firms are institutions and are subject to the regulations of the SEC, and are required to obtain a license annually.

The CSE has other stakeholders associated with the Secondary Market as stated below:

Investors

Listed Companies

Custodian Banks

Fund Managers

SEC

Government

When was a stock market established in Sri Lanka?

Share trading in Sri Lanka dates back over a century, and was established when Tea was first introduced to Sri Lanka. The origins of share trading in Sri Lanka date back to the 19th century.

The failure of Coffee crops in the late 1870's led the British planter community to attempt tea plantation. This decision created a need to raise capital to establish tea plantations and hence these plantation companies issued shares in Colombo and London, which led to the emergence of the Colombo Share Market in 1896.

Trading of shares in limited liability companies began with the inception of the Colombo Share Brokers Association (CSBA) in 1896. Initially, the share market consisted mainly of public companies in the plantation sector.

The development of Tea and Rubber plantations in the early 1900's led to the establishment of many commercial companies to provide back-up services to the plantations sector. The Colombo Share Market maintained high levels of activity before independence and as a result, such trading companies caused a growth in listed companies in the commercial sector during the late 1920's.

Market activity increased continually through to the 1970's. The share list had expanded to 176 companies by the end of 1983.

The share market was opened to the public on 2nd July 1984, as the CBA recognised the importance of mobilisation of local savings to meet the capital requirements of the growing private sector. A Public Trading Floor was established with the 'Open Outcry' system of trading, instead of the then 'Closed Door' system of trading.

The Government formalised share trading on December 2, 1985 with the establishment of the 'Colombo Securities Exchange (Guarantee) Ltd., which was changed to Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on 15th November 1990.

The 1990's saw the automation of the Clearing House of the Exchange with the establishment of the Central Depository System in 1991 and the automation of trading with the Automated Trading System in 1997.

In 1999, the CSE commenced broad basing the stock market and has established regional offices in the Southern, Central, North Western and Western provinces to encourage investment from areas outside Colombo.

Member firms of the Colombo Stock Exchange

The CSE is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) to operate as a Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. The CSE is limited by guarantee and was established under the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982.

A mutualised Exchange, the CSE presently has a membership of 15. Each member is licensed to perform the duties as a stockbroker. Membership has also been granted to 5 Trading Members who are licensed specially to engage in the secondary trading of Government Debt securities. There is one trading member engaged in only secondary trading of Government Debt securities.

Given below is a full list of companies licensed to function as Stockbrokers at the Colombo Stock Market. Please ensure that you trade only through one or more firms mentioned on this list.

Members - debt and equity

Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

DFCC Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

John Keells Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

Asha Phillip Securities Ltd.

DP Global Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Somerville Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

J B Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Lanka Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Asia Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Ceylinco Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd. .

Lanka Orix Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

S C Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

CT Smith Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

HNB Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

NDBS Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.

Trading members - debt and equity

Capital Alliance Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

SMB Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

First Guardian Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

Taprobane Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Amana Securities Ltd.

Trading members - debt

National Wealth Corporation Ltd

Structure and organisation of the Colombo Stock Exchange

The CSE does not have a share capital and is a not-for-profit organisation and therefore does not distribute profits. All Members are corporate entities while some are subsidiaries of large financial institutions such as commercial banks, merchant banks and investment banks. Foreign ownership in member firms is permitted.

The policy making body of the CSE is the Board of Directors, which consists of 9 persons, one of whom is elected as the Chairman. Five Directors are elected from the 15 members, while the Minister of Finance appoints four Directors.

The Board may set up sub-committees as required to administer the operations of the Exchange.

Currently five sub-committees have been appointed.

Rules Committee

Arbitration and Disciplinary Committee

Dispute Resolution Committee

Audit Committee

If you have any queries, suggestions or questions you want answered through this column, please forward them to Daily News Stock Market Column, Colombo Stock Exchange, 4th Floor, West Block, World Trade Centre, Echelon Square, Colombo 01.