John Myers Jr, Business Reporter

Prime Minister Bruce Golding sees value in the regional stock market dubbed the Caribbean Exchange Network, but conceded that the regulations and legislative support may be holding up its launch.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) says it has made sufficient headway on plans for a junior market specially tailored for small and medium-size companies to launch trading within 2008.

"We think we have reached a far way and we are hoping that with the collaboration of the Government we should see the Junior Venture Market before the year ends," Marlene Street-Forrest, general manager of the JSE told the Financial Gleaner on Wednesday.

"We will be utilising our existing trading platform so that is already done, but there will be some regulatory and legislative issues... for example tax holidays would have to be regulated by the Government, other issues as to how often they might file their returns," Street-Forrest explained.

The idea for a junior market has been in discussion for several years.

Essentially, it eases the requirements for small companies to more easily qualify for listing.

There are indications that the government would facilitate the new exchange, given Prime Minister Bruce Golding's suggestion at the JSE Capital Markets Conference in Montego Bay on Wednesday night that a junior exchange should be created as a means of encouraging those companies that do not make the grade for listing on the mature exchange to tap the equities market for capital.

The four-day conference ends today.

Street-Forrest said the JVM would be specifically tailored to SMEs, which would be listed under the guidance and supervision of a designated publicly-listed sponsor company.

"That person will be responsible for ensuring that the small or medium enterprise keeps within the regulatory framework that we have set out for them and that person might be a sponsoring broker or be sitting on the board of that enterprise," said the JSE GM.

Junior exchange

Marlene Street-Forrest, general manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, says the junior venture market should be operational by year end.

This part of the plan was still being fleshed out, and was still in the embryonic stages, she noted.

The junior exchange is also meant to act as a transition for companies to the larger JSE exchange, which is currently capitalised at more than $870 billion.

PM Golding was also supportive of plans for the regional stock exchange, dubbed the Caribbean Exchange Network (CXN), but he conceded that a number legislative and regulatory policies would have to be put in place to facilitate the process, such as a single regional currency.

Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados will be the three initial members of CXN. Street-Forrest, who has a coordinating role in getting the exchange off the ground, last reported that the discussions were at the level of the regulators in the various countries, who must sign off on the rules that the will govern the CXN's operations.

john.myers@gleanerjm.com