Saturday, March 05, 2011

Do not Crush the Aspirations and Interests of the Young and Small Investors

Not so long ago, my daughter reached the voting age and so was the bank balance in her minor account, the six figure mark.
When Union Bank of Si Lanka announced its share offer (IPO) recently, she wanted to invest some of her savings in shares.
She did apply and now waiting to hear about the outcome of her first attempt in investment.
The latest I read about this IPO was that it was oversubscribed by more than 300%.
This is a healthier sign.
Yet, I am clueless as to what type of modality would be used in determining the final spread of the spoil in a scenario like this but hopeful that small and young investors like my daughter would not be crushed by the big investors.
The regulatory authority (hopefully the Colombo Stock Exchange), I am sure has the power to oversee, advocate and impose the most reasonable proration method to ensure that small and especially young investors  (like daughter’s)  interests and investments are duly protected.
If such powers and or modalities are presently not available, then it is time the regulator authorities to draw up plans to deal with such scenarios in future.
Please do not crush the aspirations and interests of young and small investors, who would be the cornerstone of our future development.
We are now eagerly waiting to see what would in the white envelope.
Sasanka De Silva,