CXN making major strides
Tuesday June 28 2011 | 08:06 AM

THE Caribbean Regional Stock Exchange is just a few steps away from reality.

The agreement between the exchanges and the depositories that are participating in the Caribbean Regional Stock Exchange (CXN) in the first phase was signed last Monday (June 20) at the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE).

Speaking to Business Monday, Marlon Yarde, General Manager of the BSE, has confirmed the signing.

He stated, “We had representatives from Jamaica, Trinidad and I signed on behalf of the Barbados Stock Exchange and Barbados Central Security Depository and the witness to all these documents was Ezra Marshall, the Deputy General Manager of BSE.”

He said that this event should be considered a momentous occasion as the formation of the Caribbean Regional Stock Exchange was hindered in the past due to countries opting out of the agreement. 

“CXN has been considered necessary for growth in equity trading in the Caribbean,” Yarde explained. 

“From a technical point of view everything is in place; from an operational point of view as it relates to the agreement, everything is also in place. What has to happen is for the brokers to sign up and get the market going,” he stated. 

“I am meeting with a broker this week to go through the forms and get the process done. Part of the process for signing up would mean being a registered [exchange] in the other jurisdictions; that is being worked on at present.”

The Barbados Stock Exchange has been chided in the past for low activity and generally not being vibrant.

Yarde therefore believes this move, “will improve the activity in the Barbados Stock Exchange. The idea of the CXN is to create greater liquidity within our markets.” 

According to him, “We want to integrate the capital markets in the region – in the first instance Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago. As a consequence, we are hoping that with better liquidity and better price discovery and more activity on the various markets in the region, as a result of brokers will be able to access other markets through their own local stock exchange.”