Privatization was seen as one of the “reform” measures for an economy transitioning from socialism to a marked-based capitalist economy. Today many still hold privatization as an important component of reform. From Russia to Guyana the assets of the state were sold off at significant discounts to a single investor or family. Take for example the sale of Hand-in-Hand shares to the brother of the head of the government holding company, NICIL, Mr Winston Brassington (see SN report March 27, 2012). This sale was done to a connected family member. We did not see reports indicating that efforts were made to sell the shares to a diversified group of investors. Instead this was a sale to a family member connected to an influential bureaucrat of the government of the day.
Single-ownership private investors and family businesses are not obligated to produce regular accounting reports for market analysts to scrutinize. On the other hand, companies traded on a stock exchange must release information to the market on a regular basis. Analysts working in the stock market must
