Regulator issues new deadlines for individual companies
Thirteen out of the forty-seven Registered Finance Companies (RFCs) operating in Sri Lanka who failed to comply with the December 31, 2012 deadline set by the regulator, Central Bank of Sri Lanka to list on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), have recently been granted specific grace periods based on the financial strengths of the individual companies in concern, a top official of The Central Bank said last week. However, some of the companies ‘The Nation’ spoke to said that they were not yet officially informed about the new deadline for such listing.
“The Monetary Board at the CBSL had decided the grace period for each company and in failing to comply with the new deadlines, whatever action that will be taken, will be announced in due course”, Additional Director at the Department of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions, H.B.D Karunarathne told The Nation Gain last week.
When asked whether he could disclose deadline dates set for each company, he declined to reveal stating that he was not authorized to do so but added that once they were listed, those RFCs will have to comply with rules and regulations of Colombo Stock Exchange as well as the Central Bank.
According to our own research, RFCs that are yet to be listed at the Colombo Bourse are Asian Finance Ltd, City Finance Corporation Ltd, Deshodaya Development Finance Ltd., ETI Finance Ltd, Ideal Finance Ltd, Kanrich Finance Limited, Melsta Regal Finance Ltd, MCSL Financial Services Ltd, Prime Grameen Micro Finance Ltd, Richard Pieris Arpico Finance Limited, The Standard Credit Finance Ltd, TKS Finance Ltd and U B Finance Co. Ltd.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of TKS Finance Ltd, Rasika Kaluarachchi said that their company has been given a deadline to list by March 31, 2014 and were planning on listing well ahead of their stipulated date.
However, Assistant General Manager, Corporate Planning/Finance and HR at Kanrich Finance, Chandrin Fernando said “Although we are aware that the Central Bank had mandated the listing of finance companies in the stock market, we have so far not been informed of any such amended deadline”.
In addition, a senior official attached to Richard Peiris Arpico Finance Limited, which is still to launch operations, said that their institution is also yet to be informed of the deadline.
The Central Bank had initially declared mandatory listing deadline as June 2011, which was later changed to December 2012. It is learnt that as certain companies still failed at meeting the deadline, the regulator had then decided individual extensions for each RFC.
Meanwhile, the Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who recently urged finance companies to consolidate announced that the Monetary Board (the Central Bank’s decision-making body) had taken a decision not to give new finance company licenses in the next two three years unless they were absolutely necessary.
http://www.nation.lk/edition/biz-news/item/16439-13-finance-firms-yet-to-list.html