Current state of the capital market laws in Colombian legislation

In every country, there are many more small companies than large companies that need to raise capital. Often, however, the securities laws focus more on the public offerings of large companies. 

In Colombia, Act 964 od 2005 (amended by Act 1094 of 2006, Act 1328 of 2009, and Act 1450 of 2011; Regulatory Decrees 4759 of 2005 and 2555 of 2008) was the first attempt to regulate the capital market, successful in introducing general principles and allowing a great degree of intervention. 

Nevertheless, there is a need for a new law that allows us to regulate and supervise new financial developments, some of which don't fit into the conventional notion of "securities" and aren't authorized operations in our traditional financial sector. In fact, despite undisputed improvements since the Mission of the Ministry of Treasury in 2006, Colombia is still underdeveloped comparing to countries like Peru and Chile. 

Between 2018 and 2019, a Mission of the Capital Markets concluded that the Colombian market is not competitive, very concentrated in few actors and activities, with duplicities, inconsistencies, and incentives problems, apart from a blurred institutionally and a notorious lack of a central regulatory agency who set policies to follow. As a result, the market is not as deeper as required, illiquid, and inefficient. 

This reform has been a long time anticipated by the Colombian government (following with the Mission of the Capital Markets in 2018 - 2019, the steps of the Mission of 2006) but the COVID-19 pandemic obliged to postpose the initiative (Portafolio, 2020; Valora Analitik, 2020). 

Sources:

(2020, June 4) Mercado de capitales: reforma se frenó por el coronavirus. In Portafolio. Retrieved from: https://www.portafolio.co/economia/mercado-de-capitales-reforma-se-freno-por-el-coronavirus-541476

(2020, July 21) Habrá proyecto de ley para mercado de capitales en Colombia. In Valora Analitik. Retrieved from: https://www.valoraanalitik.com/2020/07/21/habr-proyecto-de-ley-para-mercado-de-capitales-en-colombia/