CEO of EFutures, Prashan Nagendra and Rishen Fernando – Director, Chairman of SEC, Mr. Viraj Dayaratne, Mr. Naresh Abeyesekera – Board Member and Mr. Chinthaka Mendis - Director General, at the inaugural signing between EFutures & SEC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has been a key protocol setter for capital markets in the country, guiding and regulating trade for all stakeholders across the spectrum. Undertaking licensing and regulation for all entities involved in the capital market trading landscape, the SEC has been the lynchpin for ensuring procedures are carried out legally and in a transparent manner. This also includes the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), which is the country’s sole stock market in operation.
The SEC has made digitization a key objective in its efforts to make information as well as all trading offerings accessible, while introducing paperless systems for greater efficiency. Together with the Colombo Stock Exchange, the SEC has initiated a holistic digitization strategy across all stakeholder touchpoints, which includes but isn’t limited to investors, brokers and listed companies. In turn, this aims to achieve electronic connectivity pertaining to all aspects of capital market trading via a feature-rich user experience. With greater agility and inter-operational efficiency being key objectives for a digitization strategy of this calibre, the CSE has created further leverage by implementing digital onboarding for all stakeholders. This also includes post-trade and settlement procedures, along with e-contracts and e-statements. Carried out in phases, this all-round digitization strategy also facilitates business continuity with zero downtime, in addition to making trading more accessible.
This initiative has also featured the further revamp of Central Depository System (CDS), the web and mobile applications of CSE, with enhanced features for company profile, MyCSE and the system for Capital Market Education and Training along with the e-filing system and the internal portal of SEC.
By digitizing crucial trading processes, this makes trading all the more accessible to Sri Lankan investors, while also reducing downtimes associated with account opening and post-trade settlements. Through the new CSE mobile app, investors are able to open an account and start trading without having to visit a branch office, while also gaining access to exclusive research content to aid their investment decision making.
The new releases of SEC, CSE and CDS, on the other hand, have all been enhanced to be more user-friendly and informative. Now being the hubs for all information relating to trading and regulations, the SEC, along with CSE and CDS have heightened their stances of being reputable information sources for all things related to capital markets in the country.
As one of the leaders in the software development and information technology landscape in Sri Lanka, EFutures was honoured to be an integral part of the digitization journey undertaken by SEC and CSE as a strategic technology partner. Having been at the forefront of digital transformation for clients of all volumes, both local and international, this partnership with the SEC and CSE proved to be a benchmark in the financial services sector of Sri Lanka.