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New capital market chief pledges overhaul, bourse head resigns

24/06/2004 14:31
The newly appointed chairman of the capital market commission, A. Pilavios, on Wednesday vowed to introduce radical changes in the workings of the stock market in order to eliminate what he called "grey areas".

Pilavios told a news conferece that it was imperative to regain the confidence of investors by cracking down on orchestrated profiteering in the market and stock manipulation.

Among measures the commission will take are to clarify the ground rules on brokerage margin accounts for customers, who will have to make payment for transactions within three days or arrange a credit contract with the brokerage; and to ban unofficial loans on grounds of jeopardising the market and creating unfair competition, Pilavios said.

In addition, the credit ceiling raised by the central bank on Wednesday may be scrapped in the future, he noted.

Other plans are to make brokerage keep separate books for their customers to avoid firms using customers' funds for their own business; and to incorporate a European Union directive on insider trading and share manipulation into national legislation.

Also on Wednesday, the president of the Athens Stock Exchange, Panayiotis Alexakis, resigned from the post; and from his position as managing director of Hellenic Stock Exchanges, the bourse's owner.

Shareholders of Athens-quoted Hellenic complained about management of the company in 2003, and a recent real estate purchase that is being investigated by judicial authorities. Alexakis denied wrongdoing.