GM of Stock Exchange Encourages More Companies to List on Market

General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), Marlene Street-Forrest, is encouraging more local companies to list on the stock market.

In an interview with JIS News, she said registering on the Jamaica Stock Exchange can generate several benefits for small and medium sized businesses, in addition to raising capital to grow their operations.

“What we have found is that once a company comes to market and is in good and regular standing, when they go to the bank for loan financing, the bank is very receptive to them, and they can negotiate their rates down. It’s a daily advertisement of their companies, and they are attractive to outsiders who want to do business with them,” Mrs. Street- Forest added.

Meanwhile, the Government is commending the Jamaica Stock Exchange for its recent accomplishment of being listed as the top performing stock market in the world this year.

Noted international magazine, Bloomberg Business, reported on December 23 that the Jamaica Stock Exchange surged more than 80 per cent in 2015, with 29 of the 57 stocks traded on the main and junior markets in Jamaica seeing year-over-year post-tax profits rise by 10 per cent or more.

Mrs. Street -Forrest said the recognition came after considerable effort to win the confidence of local investors.

“Our technology is among the best in the world, our regulatory framework is good and these are the things that inspire confidence. We are very proactive in terms of looking at the interest of the investor and I think persons have realized that the way the market operates is comparable to any other in the world,” she noted.

Mrs. Street-Forrest said she hopes the acknowledgement will bring international recognition to the Jamaican stock market and further boost the country’s efforts to grow the economy.