The Jamaica Stock Exchange Limited (JSE) will be heading to Barbados as part of its plans to develop new revenue streams and further facilitation of the different capital markets in the region.

This will be done through JCSD Trustee Services (Barbados) which was incorporated in December 2021 and first mentioned in the JSE 2023 audited financials. The Barbados announcement was made at its first regional conference in Georgetown, Guyana, in October 2023. The JSE first entered the trustee services business in July 2008 when it incorporated JCSD Trustee Services Limited. JCSD Trustee Services is also one of six approved trust and corporate service providers in Jamaica. Trust services involve holding and administering assets for the benefit of a third party.

Since then, trustee services have grown to contribute $820.77 million of the JSE’s $2.25 billion in revenue during 2023. Its significance has become even more relevant as the trustee services segment represented $474.81 million, a 35 per cent improvement over 2022, of the $683 million in profit before tax in 2023. This increase in earnings offset the dip in the JSE’s (company) exchange operations whose profit before tax dipped 83 per cent to $58.23 million. This was against the backdrop of trading values on the Main and Junior Market diving 40 per cent in 2023 with the smaller USD Market advancing 13 per cent in value traded.

A timeline has not been publicly announced for the Barbados entry, but it is likely within the next two months with the JSE’s other big plans. The JSE’s planned entry into Barbados occurs at the same time the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) incorporated its own trustee service, BCSDI Custodian Trust Services Inc, in January 2021. While there are no public financials for the BSE, the website mentions, “The CTSI provides complementary services to its parent, the BCSD, as well as those public, private and government organisations raising capital or offering investment products in the local capital market.”

The JSE is currently working on different technical projects as highlighted by several different announcements. The JSE will be discontinuing its MYJSE Portal on its website in favour of the JCSD Portal (jcsdportal.jamstockex.com) on April 29. The JCSD Portal was launched in February 2023, just weeks following news of alleged impropriety in the financial sector.

The JSE also withdrew its mobile application from both the Google Play and IOS app stores on April 22 as it moves ahead with redesigning the app in a process which should take approximately two months.

“We understand that the temporary withdrawal of our mobile application may inconvenience some users, and we sincerely apologise for any disruption this may cause. However, we believe that the redesigned app will ultimately provide a significantly improved user experience that will benefit everyone in the long run,” stated the JSE release.

The move to redesign its mobile app also comes at the same time the JSE is moving to a new platform for its virtual stock market games. A letter was sent to Public Game participants letting them know that the game would end earlier on April 26 and not the original June 18 date as it replaces its existing platform. The virtual games have been ‘frozen’ for nearly a month with the early end of the game coming about four days earlier than the original timelines for the High School and Teacher Games.

It’s also yet to be seen what will happen with the JSE’s API for non-Jtraderpro brokers whose clients can’t directly trade the bond market due to the inability for data to be transmitted properly. This is a year after Mayberry Investments Limited’s four-tranche bond was listed which saw clients of Jtraderpro brokers able to directly trade it, but not the same case for users of Mayberry’s online platform and JMMB Moneyline users. Clients have to request an advisor to input any orders at the moment rather than do it online themselves. Even the Express Catering Limited USD bond, which was listed on April 17, is not visible on Jtraderpro, but has been created on JMMB Moneyline, albeit with no data feed to update the price.

Although the ability to short sell stocks was announced to be ready for the end of 2023, it has been pushed back again as the development of the platform with brokers continues. The JSE was able to launch Direct Market Access (DMA) which allows investors in Jamaica to gain access to other stock exchanges with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as the first market of access. There are currently two brokers at the moment facilitating this option.

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) mentioned in its 2023 annual report that significant progress was made during the year to allow GOJ domestic securities to be traded on the JSE platform. A sign-off was received in October between communication protocols between the two systems with the Nasdaq now working towards delivering a test environment between the JSE platform and JamClear® CSD. The JSE’s annual report is due by April 29 with its annual general meeting (AGM) to be held within the next two months.

Steven Gooden has returned to the JSE’s board as an independent director effective March 27 following his resignation on October 17, 2023. Gooden who had been a JSE director since November 2013 left the board last year following his departure from NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM) as its Chief Executive Officer. There are about nine board seats reserved on the JSE’s board for brokers appointees. With his departure as NCBCM CEO, he would have had to leave the JSE board as NCBCM’s appointee. NCBCM has not named a new appointee to the JSE board as yet.

Gooden’s independent director role comes only a few months after Suzanne Ffolkes-Goldson passed on October 2. Other JSE director changes includes VM Group’s Chief Investment Officer Devon Barrett’s resignation on March 31, the same day of his resignation as a director of VM Investments Limited. Tara Nunes had resigned on October 6 before Tracy-Ann Spence’s appointment as a JSE director on November 22. The JSE’s audit committee is also composed of chair Dian Black, Kerry-Ann McKoy Tulloch, Eric Scott, Michael McNaughton, and Spence.

JSE Managing Director Marlene Street-Forrest is set to retire within the next 12 months following more than two decades of service since she joined in September 2000. She was promoted to JSE General Manager in June 2004 and then appointed managing director in April 2017. Her retirement also comes at a time when chairman Julian Mair will be serving in his last term following his January 2020 appointment. The JSE’s corporate governance policy limits chairmen to five consecutive terms.

The JSE’s stock price closed Tuesday at $11.41 which leaves it up 14 per cent in 2024 with a market capitalisation of $8.02 billion. Shareholders on record as of April 16 are set to receive a $0.263 dividend on April 30 which totals $184.43 million. This is an improvement to the $0.128 dividend paid since April 2023, but the first dividend received after the JSE skipped its mid-year dividend in July 2023.

Stock market investors can look forward to the new T+1 settlement period and extended trading hours for May 27. This should auger well for the JSE Group which currently earns 0.35 per cent from every trade on the stock market. Statistics for the first quarter show that the Main Market had a 16.43 per cent increase in trading value to $9.69 billion while the Junior Market’s trading value was down 41.87 per cent to $1.36 billion. The USD Market’s trading value was down 38.13 per cent to US$2.01 million.