BCSDI and JCSD join the 27 financial market infrastructure providers that have endorsed the charter to ensure a consistent, efficient and cost-effective way for market infrastructures (MIs) and financial intermediaries (FIs) to communicate.

BSE, a leading stock exchange in the Caribbean and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Barbados Central Securities Depository (BCSDI) launched a new International Securities Market (ISAM) in March 2016 for the listing and trading of securities by issuers who may or may not be incorporated in Barbados. In an effort to support its vision to become an international player in the securities space, the BSE/BCSD has now embraced SWIFT’s ISO 20022 Harmonisation Charter.

“Adhering to international standards such as ISO 20022 enables the Caribbean stock exchanges and CSDs to become global players,” says Marlon Yarde, Managing Director of the BCSDI. “Our work with SWIFT attests to our commitment to enhance our competitive prowess across the region.”

JCSD, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), has embraced the ISO 20022 standard as part of its overarching strategy to serve as a central service bureau for all brokers in the market and extend its footprint regionally. Use of global standards best practices will help the JCSD integrate participants with a reduction in operational and technological effort. Having achieved record growth of 80 percent in 2015 due in large part to foreign acquisitions, stronger investor safeguards and the economic climate, the JCSD anticipates that inclusion of the ISO 20022 standard will contribute to and accelerate future growth.

“As the JCSD and JSE seek to build on our recent successes, we view the inclusion of the ISO 20022 standard as a key component to enabling interconnectivity,” says Robin Levy, CEO and General Manager of the JCSD. “With more multinational corporations looking at Jamaica as a venue for investment, it is vital for us to ensure we adhere to best practice.”

“With the challenge and opportunities of market internationalisation and evolving market trends, SWIFT partners effectively with market infrastructures to help them to address these challenges. adds Juan Martínez, Managing Director, Latin America and the Caribbean, SWIFT. “For BCSDI and JCSD as well as many other market infrastructures in the region, the ISO 20022 standard is set to have a profound effect on the way they conduct their business. Signing up to the harmonization charter will foster greater transparency, consistency and international alignment as they embark on that journey.”