Who we are

The Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) is a fully electronic regional exchange that was promoted by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), as a part of a programme to develop money and capital markets in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The ECSE, was launched in October 2001 , along with two subsidiaries, the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Registry (ECCSR) and the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository (ECCSD), to provide the infrastructure for the trading, clearing and settlement, and registration and transfer of financial assets on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM) and, subsequently, the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM).  The ECCSR was subsequently wound up, as a part of a Group rationalisation exercise, and its activities subsumed into the ECCSD.  Consistent with industry norms, the ECCSD then became a full service CSD providing a full range of post trade services. 

The markets were developed in response to identified gaps in the financial infrastructure in the ECCU, where financial intermediation was based primarily on bank financing, leading to a bank-centric financial system. Additionally, there were limited investment opportunities, inadequate pricing and distribution mechanisms for securities, and minimal capital flows across ECCU.

The markets operated by the ECSE Group led to more efficiency in the mobilisation and allocation of resources, which would contribute to a reduction in the cost of raising capital and an increase in the returns to investors. Specific objectives included: 

1. The efficient mobilisation and allocation of financial resources for productive purposes
2. The provision of organised avenues for foreign investment via linkages to the international markets, as well as, access to international savings
3. The reduction of over-dependence on debt financing for production and business activity; and
4. The provision of mechanisms and tools for the conduct of effective monetary policy.

To achieve these objectives, several design choices were adopted to contend with the geographic realities of the ECCU, as a multi-state region. What emerged, was a modern, state-of-the-art regional exchange built to embody some of the most technologically advanced securities market features. The ECSE is the first fully electronic regional securities market in the entire Western Hemisphere. It operates in a fully dematerialised environment; trades are settled on a one day after trade (T+1) cycle and cleared on a delivery against payment (DVP) basis.