Eastern Caribbean Stock Market Thriving

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

04 January 2002

While the eyes of the world have been on the much trumpeted European efforts towards unity, the new Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchange, which is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to unite the smaller Caribbean jurisdictions, has continued, quietly, to perform well. According to end of year reports, all listed stocks ending the year on a modest high, which is something of an achievement given the current economic climate.

Although the launch of the ECSE late last year was a slightly quieter affair than the launch of the euro on January 1st, there was a similar sense of regional pride and potentiality about the event. The exchange, which is located in St Kitts, serves a combined population of around 550,000 people from Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent, all of which are united by a single currency (Eastern Caribbean Dollars), which is managed by a regional Central Bank.

Speaking at the time of the launch, senior figures from several of the jurisdictions covered by the ECSE were enthusiastic for the future of the exchange, and by extension the Eastern Caribbean region, predicting that it would change the way in which business was done there. 'I am excited and pleased to say we took our time to develop our securities market but we studied well and came up with the best,' boasted Ambrose George, the Finance Minister for Dominica.

And indeed the ECSE has since won praise for its sophisticated and up-to-date settlement system and regulatory regime: 'This is an excellent arrangement that allows the islands to benefit from working together,' Sarah Ackerson, Senior Special Counsel for the SEC in the United States told the Financial Times recently. The regulatory framework is excellent. I hope this model of a regional exchange can be replicated in other parts of the world.'

Recommended