The Panadura branch of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) was officially opened to the public by CSE Chairman Dilshan Wirasekera on 2 March with the participation of a few stockbroker firms, Sinhala Business Association President Gihan Kuruppu, CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike, senior management, and staff.

Commenting on the latest addition to the CSE’s branch network, Wirasekera stated: “It is important that market presence and growth initiatives are sustained during periods of both strong and weak market performance. The new branch is yet another step in our effort to create greater convenience and better engagement opportunities for investors around the country.”

The Panadura branch is the CSE’s ninth branch and adds to the branch network in Matara, Kandy, Kurunegala, Negombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Ratnapura, and Ambalanthota.

“The initiatives driven through the branch network relate to various aspects of financial literacy, including regional investor forums, educational workshops, programmes for schools and universities, and other awareness programmes targeting investors and the public at large.”

Interested investors in the region could access four stockbroker firms at the Panadura branch, namely, Asha Securities Ltd., Lanka Securities Ltd., Bartleet Religare Securities and Softlogic Stockbrokers (Pvt.) Ltd.

Among the services, the branch offers are the facilitation of opening CDS accounts, investor educational workshops, and access to multiple stockbrokers.

Wirasekera also mentioned that as the CSE is a facilitator for capital raising, the SMEs in the region could avail the Empower Board to take their businesses to the next level of growth.

“Furthermore, for the investors, we currently have equity and debt as instruments for investments. We would be diversifying our product offering to cater to different market segments so that investors could have diversification options when investing with CSE,” he added.

CSE intends to conduct an Investor Forum in Panadura on 18 March 2023.