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110 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Business View Caribbean - September 2016 111
its two subsidiaries, the ECCSR and the ECCS, into a
new full service Central Security Depository (CSD) is
one such initiative. “Previously, we had the ownership
records and the accounts of investors who traded se-
curities in our markets held in a separate registry, and
we had a separate central securities depository that
handled the post-trade operations and the market
clearances and settlements after trading.”
The ECSE is also upgrading its technology. “We’re go-
ing to be going live with a new trading system within
the next four or five months that will bring us right to
the cutting edge of the modern functionalities that
exist in terms of trading securities,” Blake reports.
“We’ve been around for about 15 years with the same
platform, so we are basically renovating the entire sys-
tem and putting in new, modern, up-to-date trading
and post-trading applications so that we can continue
to grow our business and do so efficiently.”
Growing the ECSE’s business is on top of Blake’s agen-
da. “We are looking at making the ownership of shares
and financial assets a lot more of an everyday thing
within the Eastern Caribbean,” he says. “We want to
extend the base of investors. Right now, we are pre-
occupied with the technology issues, but once we’re
over that, we are going to be focusing a lot on mar-
keting and education – trying to sensitize the public
within our member countries to the benefits of invest-
ing.” Blake also wants to expand the range of inves-
tors abroad, including those members of the Eastern
Caribbean Diaspora, who are presently living in the
Unites States and the United Kingdom.
But Blake also realizes that the ECSE needs to grow its
trading volumes from the supply side, as well as from
the demand side. “So, we are looking at expanding our
range of products by attracting more foreign listings
and by developing things like mutual funds, which,
Trevor E Blake, General Manager,
Eastern Caribbean Securities
Exchange.