A RECENT spate of shock results from a number of relatively high-profile smaller companies has shaken the confidence of many of the remaining long-term investors in the sector.
In many cases, no warning was given of the problems about to befall the companies in question.
Results like those from Champion Technology, Lamex and Applied International have done nothing to instil confidence in the formal disclosures coming from these firms.
There is a school of thought that argues these smaller firms should be unshackled from the apparently large burden of regulatory requirements to free them up from administrative burdens in their spring days of entrepreneurial growth. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking, if taken up seriously, will effectively become a ramp and burn 'em charter.
Far from there being a need for less regulation, there is arguably a need for more regulation, especially in terms of disclosure.
Many of these firms are high-risk investments, given their low capital bases and sometimes precarious margins.