COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a public warning over ongoing investment scams targeting prospective share market investors, identifying two entities allegedly involved in misleading and unauthorized activities.
Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday (16), SEC Deputy Director General Tushara Jayaratne said the regulator has identified Blue Ocean Securities Limited and Gladius South Asia as companies linked to such scams.
According to Jayaratne, Blue Ocean Securities has been encouraging investors to trade through a mobile application named BOMate, which gives the impression of facilitating share trading, but does not allow transactions through the official stock market system.
“Investors cannot trade shares through this app. However, money transfers are carried out via the application, and these transactions are not visible to the SEC system. This raises serious concerns, as the funds are being diverted elsewhere,” Jayaratne warned.
He added that the SEC has lodged formal complaints with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank to investigate the matter.
Jayaratne also warned that Gladius South Asia has been urging investors to avoid the local stock market and instead invest in foreign markets, while falsely claiming to hold a licence issued by the SEC.
“No such licence has been granted by the SEC,” he said, cautioning the public against relying on unverified claims of regulatory approval.
Despite the scams, Jayaratne stressed that Sri Lanka’s capital market remains fundamentally sound and urged investors not to lose confidence.
“Our market is largely free and fair. However, investors also have a responsibility to exercise caution and due diligence when making investment decisions,” he said.
The SEC urged the public to verify the licensing status of companies and investment platforms before committing funds and to report suspicious activity to the regulator.
-ENCL
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.