Getting Started

Deposit funds

Once you receive your CDS Account Confirmation you may deposit funds to BOC Corporate Branch bearing account Number- 618 stating your Account Number in the deposit slip and fax a copy to +94-11-4706767.

Hold sales proceeds

To retain the sales proceeds of your share transactions in the share trading account, you need to forward us the “Hold Sales Proceeds Form”

Dividend or other cash entitlements

Depending on the information available with CDS at the time of submission of the account form, dividends or cash entitlements will either be remitted to the respective bank accounts or posted to the registered address held in CDS.

And if you need to add/change your Dividend Instructions a letter requesting of such change is required.

Non cash entitlements

Your entitlement will be directly credited to your securities account in CDS

Contract Notes/Account Statements

• Once your trading order is executed we will send you an order confirmation note.
• All account holders who had done a transaction/s pertaining to a particular month will receive a monthly CDS statement. If you have done transaction/s within that quarter you will receive a quarterly CDS statement at the end of each quarter. The CDS shall issue a statement at the end of each calendar year for all account holders who hold portfolios in listed companies.
• You can view your portfolio status any time through our online trading service.
• If you have enquiries, please contact our Finance Division or call us on +94-11-47067575.

Trading sessions

The Exchange is open for continuous trading from Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. The trading sessions are as follows:

Open Auction Call

During open auction call (9.00 am to 9.30 am) the system accepts orders. These orders can be amended and cancelled during this session. However, no trades take place during this stage. Orders during this period are held in the ATS and will be forwarded to the execution engine at Regular Trading session, and at 9.30am the system starts matching orders according to the algorithm. It establishes the opening price and determines the orders to be executed according to the rules for the open auction call session.

Regular Trading

During regular trading (09.30 am to 2.30 pm) new orders are continually matched to existing orders in the order book. If an order cannot be executed, it is stored in the order book.

Market Close

Market closes at 2.30 pm.

Market Halt

In the event the S&P SL20 Index (or the index that may replace the S&P SL20 in the future) drops by 5% within the day from the previous market day’s close, a “Market Halt” will be imposed on all equity securities for a period of 30 minutes. In case if the above scenario takes place at 2.00pm or later, the market will be halted and closed at 2.30pm. This is effective from 2nd January 2009. Market wide index based circuit breakers are imposed by stock exchanges to halt trading of equity securities in order to provide a "cooling off" period when there is an unusual movement in the index. Broker Firms may cancel any pending orders during the "Market Halt". However Broker Firms cannot enter new orders or amend pending orders during the "Market Halt".

Transaction costs

Colombo has a fair reputation internationally as a well-regulated market. Investor protection operates on two tiers. Investors can lodge a complaint if they believe that they have been unfairly treated. The complaint should in the first instance be made to the Compliance Officer of the Member Firm. If the investor is dissatisfied with the decision of the member firm, the investor can refer the complaint to the Exchange and as a third recourse, he/she can refer the complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The CSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission both have surveillance divisions that track market movement to identify evidence of insider trading, front running, churning, etc. Inquiries are conducted and, if necessary, the offenders can be charged under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act. The market surveillance system with a database of trading records maintains details of transactions and enables investigations into market manipulations.

A settlement guarantee fund and a compensation fund are in place. Additionally stockbrokers also provide a cash deposit and a bank guarantee to the CSE to be used in the event of a settlement failure. In addition to this the brokers are also required to be sufficiently liquid and to maintain minimum levels of net capital to minimize settlement failure.

Remember, Investment means that your capital is at risk and the value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you initially invested. Past performance is no guide to future performance.