Mr. Karunanayake told a news conference yesterday that he believed that these persons would be questioned by COPE about the deal, which is said to have violated the NSB Act of 1971. He said he had written to COPE Chairman D. E. W. Gunasekera requesting him to summon these officials before COPE as the NSB deal was a serious matter. “This is only the tip of the iceberg as there are many other interesting things that have taken place,” he said; adding that the UNP would come up with more staggering disclosures in the near future.

He said that section 39 of the Act had been violated. He said the approval of the Finance Ministry was necessary for such a deal to be made. Mr. Karunanayake said it was necessary to find out who had told the NSB officials to go ahead with the deal.

Mr. Karunanayake said those who had tendered their resignations were not the real offenders and that there had been many high ranking officials involved.

He said this transaction had tarnished the image of the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka