Sri Lanka may ease margin trading ban

Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday said it is seriously considering a stockbrokers’ proposal to ease a margin trading ban, at least on a temporary basis to help smaller investors in the Colombo Stock Exchange . The island nation’s regulator has directed all brokers to phase out margin trading by end of this year, a change which has hit trading volumes and which brokers blame for cooling business and prices on the bourse.All but two of Sri Lanka’s 28 brokerages last month submitted a joint proposal to the SEC to relax some rules, particularly the margin phase-out. From / Gulf Today