Disputes emerge on establishment of capital markets regulatory body in Sudan
July 5, 2013, (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Council of Ministers informal forum has voiced objection to the government order forming a regulatory authority for capital markets and demanded replacing it with a law, stressing the need for precise drafting and removal of discrepancies and inconsistencies from the capital markets draft bill.
The forum, which was held in the General Secretariat of the cabinet on Thursday to discuss the draft law of the capital markets, called for separating executive and regulatory powers of the Khartoum Stock Exchange (KSE).
The forum witnessed a divergence in views between the KSE and Sudan’s central bank where the latter asked for removing some provisions of the draft law saying that it falls within its powers and could harm the national economy.
The former governor of the central bank and head of the economic sector at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), Saber Mohamed al-Hassan, said that KSE’s dominance over regulatory and executive powers has hampered its development, adding that formation of capital markets authority would solve the problem.
The assistant governor of the central bank, Hussein Yahia, for his part, has set forth reasons for the central bank refusal to include money and gold markets into the new capital markets law as well as barring foreigners from investing in securities.
MP and member of the parliamentary economic subcommittee, Halima Hassaballah, has predicted that the formation order of the capital markets authority in its current form would face significant opposition in the parliament, suggesting that it must be promoted into a law.
(ST)