This Tuesday, March 22, the plenary session of the National Assembly plans to deal with the second and final debate on the bill to attract investment, strengthen the stock market and digital transformation, whose report was approved on Thursday 16 with six votes in favor by the Economic Development Commission.
The call for this session, which will start at 08:00, was held this weekend.
The project, which needs 70 votes in favor for its approval, aims to attract and encourage investment in multiple sectors of the economy, as well as foster job creation, promote efficiency in markets, construction and regulatory improvement, and also, the simplification and adoption of digital media and technologies in administrative procedures.
However, from the stock market sector they insist on comments on the project, some of which had already been exposed in a previous statement dated March 3.
The report on the urgent investment law is ready, but the votes are still under negotiation
The Guayaquil Stock Exchange, the Quito Stock Exchange and the Association of Brokerage Houses (Asocaval) propose reforms to articles 162 and 154 of the project of Law of Attraction of Investments, which according to the unions do not consider the modifications exposed in their participations before the Commission.
The unions cite article 162 of the project on the participation of the public sector in the stock market:
“The issuance, investment and disinvestment of securities registered in the Public Registry of the Securities Market that are carried out directly or indirectly by entities, companies and organizations of the public sector must be carried out by public auction through the stock exchanges or any authorized transactional platform. by the Financial Policy and Regulation Board. The Central Bank of Ecuador may provide the transactional platform service to public sector entities. All securities transactions and their characteristics and conditions must be reported to the stock exchanges and the Superintendence of Companies and Securities for the respective update and dissemination.
In this regard, the unions indicated that the public auctions of internal debt securities can perfectly continue to be executed in the stock exchanges, through which all transactions in the Ecuadorian stock market are closed.
They assured that separating the trading of public sector securities from those of the private sector means creating parallel markets that do not favor transparency or price formation, in a growing market.
“The proposal creates parallel markets for the negotiation of State bonds and other public securities, since their placements are made through auctions of over-the-counter platforms (primary market) and their subsequent sales between private individuals, banks, mutual funds, investment funds, insurance companies and others, whether on the stock exchange (secondary market)”, was explained in the statement from the Guayaquil Stock Exchange, the Quito Stock Exchange and Asocaval, which warned that the use of transactional platforms managed by institutions that are not necessarily independent of the Central government could leave doors open for non-transparent management, unlike the current stock market.
Meanwhile, regarding article 164 regarding the stock market, the unions assure that it is related in its application to article 162, cited above, so it should also be modified.
Article 164 says: “Over-the-counter market is the primary market that is generated between the financial institution, the public sector and its investors, with or without the intervention of a securities intermediary, with generic securities or ordinary business securities, issued by financial institutions and registered in the Public Registry of the Securities Market and in the stock exchanges; as well as with public titles registered in the Public Registry of the Securities Market.”
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For the sector, the proposed definition of the over-the-counter market allows the trading of public securities, registered in the Public Registry of the Stock Market, to be carried out without the transparency that the stock market does offer.
“The negotiations of the public sector must be public, transparent, at market prices and carried out in the stock market, through authorized stock market intermediaries (brokerage houses and public operators) through stock operations”, recommend the unions that recognize that changes to the stock market are important and necessary; however, they insist that the process must include an adequate debate and active participation of each member of the market, which unfortunately, according to them, has not occurred with the actors of the Stock Market. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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