Securities and Exchange Commission ignores COPE

 Sunday, 23 June 2013 

Lankanewsweb - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has failed to submit a report on the controversial purchase of The Finance shares by National Savings Bank (NSB) requested by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on March 21st. The NSB share purchase even figured in the impeachment of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.

COPE had summoned the SEC board to parliament on March 21st to inquire into the NSB share purchase. SEC Chairman, Nalaka Godahewa, Director General Prof. Harendra Disabandara, Deputy Treasury Secretary Dr. Batagoda, Deputy Central Bank Governor Ananda Silva, Priyantha Fernando, Dr. Prathiba Mahanama, head of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka Sujeewa Rajapakse and Lolitha Abeysinghe who is related to Presidential chief of staff, Gamini Senarath.
COPE had requested for a report on the controversial NSB-The Finance share purchase from the SEC. When COPE Chairman, Minister DEW Gunasekera had requested fro the report, SEC Chief Godahewa had said the Commission could not submit the report since it was with the Attorney general’s Department.
The opposition members in the COPE had silently listened to Godahewa’s explanation. However, governing party MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe had questioned whether parliament was not considered supreme by the SEC when it was stated that parliament was superior to the country’s judiciary when the impeachment against the Chief Justice was being inquired.
DEW Gunasekera had agreed with Wijesinghe had ordered SEC Director General Disabandara to immediately submit the report to COPE. When the SEC Director General was preparing the report to be sent to COPE, the Presidential Secretariat had ordered an immediate halt to the report.
The director general had requested the official from the Presidential Secretariat who had telephoned him to allow him to resign from the post at the SEC since he did not wish to be punished for failing to carry out a parliamentary order. Disabandara then submitted his resignation from the SEC.
After Dhammika Perera (not the Casino Dhammika Perera), who is one of Godahewa’s lackeys assumed office, Perera had informed COPE that he cannot submit the report.
Sources from the Presidential Secretariat said that the President is pleased with the strength shown by the new director general and has decided to make him permanent in his post.
The NSB purchased 13% of The Finance shares at Rs. 50 per share when the price was estimated at Rs 30 per share. The NSB had spent Rs. 390 million on the transaction. It was Chief Justice Bandaranayake’s husband, Pradeep Kariyawasam who was the chairman of NSB at the time.
A senior official from the SEC said that the main respondent in the controversial transaction is none other than Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal. The official added that it was surprising to see the silence of the opposition members in COPE although they have been given all the documents related to the controversy.