Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said that the government is currently in the process of “cleaning up” the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and that they intend to establish a ‘Serious Frauds and Financial Crimes Division’ for this purpose.

“That’s why we have to start a Serious Frauds and Financial Crimes Division with the intention of following the Serious Fraud Office of the UK and legislating for it subsequently.”

The SFO is an independent Government department that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud, and corruption in the United Kingdom.

Wickremesinghe stated that an Organised Crimes Division will be established next.

“You cannot have organized crime. You can’t have commercial crime. You can’t have these frauds,” he said, after declaring open an International Arbitration Centre in Colombo.

He stated that the government is also looking at bringing in laws dealing with drug trafficking in Sri Lanka. “Those things cannot be allowed.”

Wickremesinghe further said: “under President Maithripala Sirisena we’ve got out of the job of controlling the Supreme Court. As a result now I find there are more decisions against us than for us.”