Twenty participants from six ECCU member countries and Trinidad and Tobago are in St Kitts to learn the fundamentals of operating in the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market, at a one-week certification workshop, being hosted by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission.
In a brief opening ceremony at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank on October 20, 2003, Deputy Chairman of the ECSRC Mr Errol Allen acknowledged that the certification process would provide the skills necessary to enter and operate in the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market. He however admonished participants to engage in continuous learning and self-development in order to remain at the cutting edge of new ideas and technological development and to face the challenges of the changing environment.
Mr Glenford McLeish, General Manager of Mayberry Investments Limited, and one of the facilitators of the workshop provided an overview of the Jamaican Securities Industry, in light of current discussions to integrate the Caribbean securities markets.
During the week, participants will be instructed on several topics including the regulatory and operational framework developed for the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market; the interrelationships of institutions in
the ECSM; brokerage operations and customer account management; and the basics of bond and equity markets. On the successful completion of examinations following the workshop, participants will be eligible to apply for a licence to operate in the ECSM.
Since the start of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market two years ago, seventy-four candidates have participated in the certification examinations. Of the sixty-six successful candidates forty have applied for and been granted licences, nineteen as principals and twenty-one as representatives of broker dealer firms.
