Eastern Caribbean Securities Market

About the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM) 

The Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM) is the first organised regional securities market established within the 8 Member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).  Designed to provide an alternative mechanism for institutions to raise capital within the regional financial system, the ECSM was created in 2001 with passage of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Act 2001 and the establishment of the main market institutions.  These comprised The Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC), the regional regulatory body in which the powers under the Act is vested, and those licensed under the Act –  the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE), the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository (ECCSD) and the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Registry (ECCSR). The ECCSR has since been wound up and its operations subsumed into the ECCSD.

The ECSM facilitates primary issuance and secondary market trading of securities.  The primary market gives issuers an opportunity to raise money through new issues of securities.  It is designed to give issuers the flexibility of opting of a non-competitive auction methodology in which the issuer can set the price of the issue, or a competitive one, wherein the investors set the price of the issue.  The secondary market allows investors to trade their securities freely and provide liquidity.  With the ECSM, investors have another alternative to invest their savings to secure their future. The ECSM also allows for the transfer of private sector savings to productive investment. This is expected to increase productive activity in the real sector, facilitate private sector development and create avenues for employment.

The ECSM comprises the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange, The Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission and the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository