Union Bank IPO

Sri Lanka bank IPO creates record

Feb 25, 2011 (LBO) - An initial public offer for 375 million rupees of stock in Sri Lanka's Union Bank has drawn record subscriptions of 84 billion rupees or 225 times making it the largest oversubscription ever in the island.
The registrars said 30,100 applications had been received for the issue which closed on Thursday, and from the applications processed so far 3.375 billion shares had been applied for.
The bank only offered 15 million shares to the public.


The previous high was with Singer Finance, a small finance company which attracted subscriptions for 135 times the offer, advisors NDB Investment Bank said.

Softlogic IPO in March

“The country has a high number of small banks and they are unable to provide massive development loans. The banks need to consolidate to support growth and the development process of the country,” Softlogic Holdings Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Pathirage said.

“The corporate sector needs to undertake projects and support the country’s socio economic development. It is important that top banks merge to provide these funding facilities within the country,” Pathirage said.
“We could manage with three to four solid banks considering the country’s size and population. The banking industry has the necessary regulatory framework to move forward. However, merges within the industry will facilitate the huge capital requirement to carry out the development projects,” he said.
The Softlogic Finance company will focus on high performance in keeping with its brand name and reputation. It has a strategic plan in place to achieve Rs 500 million profitability within the next three years.
“This is the level that we are planning to reach in the next few years. We will expand our branch network to widen the reach and will also introduce more finance products to increase our customer base,” Pathirage said.
Softlogic Holdings will go for an IPO in March to raise funds to further build the company.

Rehan Wijetunge and Investnow.lk

Investnow.lk bar temporarily!


Letter from Rehan about the suspend of InvestNow.lk

My Apologies...

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Dearest Members, Investors and those who are just starting out,

It is with great regret that I write this message to you all that I am temporarily suspending the forum in order to rework our strategy and create a professional entity that will continue to help investors navigate the great depths of the market and act to be a credible guide with the help of you all, the community.

The events that have taken place over this short period of time have convinced me that we seriously need to make a stand to save what we have all built and act in a manner that best serves the community, our country and that can truly help the Colombo Stock Exchange reach greater heights and be free from manipulative control through education and creating awareness.

In the coming weeks I will be developing a more robust system that can handle these issues and I hope that I can count on your support to do this.

If anyone who like to have a refund for any services paid for that are still valid then please send me an email. I'll be happy to do the needful.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Kind Regards, Rehan Wijetunge

in InvestNow.lk post by MukeshAmbani,

Check share trading account of Rehan Wijetunga

I think SEC and CSE should immediately check the share trading account of Rehan Wijetunge because many believe that he is front running share by publishing article on it website through various nominee account. Front running is a criminal offence under the SEC Act. Details of Rehan Wijetunga can be provided to CSE for a immediate investigation.

Reply from Rehan

Well, our moderators had some issues with approving this post since it can be considered as "mud-slinging" but then I decided that maybe this needs to be discussed :)

I do however thank you for your reply to my post, "Message to All Our Members" which you have highlighted the benefit of my proposed system :D

http://investnow.lk/2011/01/24/message-to-all-our-members/11506/32037/

To be honest, I like your initiative; it's bold and if that is what is necessary to bring some credibility to this system then so be it :D

I actually haven't traded in months, not something you might have expected from the guy running this thing; heck I should be rolling in cash and make it open to everyone even without verification like some other sites claiming no responsibility for what happens and leave it entirely to their membership to abuse. Well, that's not the way I like to run things ;)

Let's create an approachable market serviced by professionals who actually care about developing the share market with no agenda and free it from the manipulators whose aim is to ride the market and leave the small guys holding the bag; shame on them!

Consider this a movement; my hope is that we share the same goals and can encourage more reputable organizations to join and create an investment culture that best serves the community and for that we require the assistance of the SEC and all related parties.

This is an invitation to really serve our community :D

Thank you

Rehan 

Update on 31 Jan, 2011


An article was published on lbo.lk about the incident..
author: Ishara M Gamage



Sri Lanka stock website shuts after regulator warning
Jan 31, 2011 (LBO) - A Sri Lanka stock investment website has closed after warnings against misleading investors by the capital markets regulator, whose officials said they were cracking down on such sites.
An official at the Securities and Exchange Commission said they warned the people operating the website, saying misleading advice that influence share prices could violate SEC regulations.


The operator of the site, investnow.lk, decided to close last week after the warning by the regulator.


A notice posted on the website said it was "temporarily suspending" the forum in order to "rework" its strategy and create a "professional entity that will continue to help investors navigate the great depths of the market and act to be a credible guide with the help of you all, the community."


It said it would act in a manner that "best serves the community . . . and be free from manipulative control through education and creating awareness."


The site offered to refund members for any services paid for that are still valid.


The SEC official said they were also monitoring other websites that offer advice on investing in the stock market which has been on a bull run since the island's 30-year ethnic war ended in 2009.


The SEC was also investigating stock brokers believed to be behind some of the websites that offer advice to investors, he said.


The Colombo bourse was Asia's second-best performing market last year