"The resignation of two SEC Chairpersons within a period of less than one year will be viewed with concern by investors, corporates and other stakeholders," the Chamber said in its statement.
Sri Lanka's business chamber has expressed concern over the statement made by the head of Sri Lanka's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he was under immense pressure from certain investors to resign.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it notes with concern the statements made by the SEC Chairman Tilak Karunaratne to the media on his impending resignation.
"The resignation of two SEC Chairpersons within a period of less than one year will be viewed with concern by investors, corporates and other stakeholders," the Chamber said in its statement.
Karunaratne, who assumed the post after Indrani Sugathadasa resigned from the post last December due to the pressure from the stock brokers, has said that he will resign from his post this week, presumably by Friday.
The stockbrokers complain that tougher market regulations imposed by the SEC is the reason for the dwindling performance of the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The SEC chairman, who has been pushing for investigations into stock market malpractices, has told Reuters that investors who were being investigated for market manipulation had made false allegations against him.
The Chamber of Commerce says that an "effective and stable regulatory framework is critical to ensure a robust and sustainable capital market, which delivers long term value to all stakeholders."
One research analyst has told Reuters that the market would even drag further by the SEC Chairman's resignation.
"The market would actually drag further. There might be just false run on speculative stocks. Now foreign money will stop and local funds will just park their money in treasury bills and wait, what else to do. So the market would go to the doldrums," Reuters quoted the analyst.
(CP)