The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange Hosts Listing Agents Forum, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX) hosted a Listing Agent Forum at the Cayman Conference Centre on 6 November, featuring representatives from US financial security company CUSIP Global Services. The conference updated local industry professionals on recent developments at the Exchange, and outlined its plans and initiatives for the year ahead.

Recent developments included new listing rules and the ongoing build-out of post-trading infrastructure to support the Exchange’s recently acquired XETRA trading platform.  There was a technical briefing on the latest listing rules release and announcement of a new project to test the feasibility of a streamlined listing regime for sophisticated investment funds.  In order to capitalise on its recent technical upgrades the Exchange announced it will be stepping up its marketing initiatives which include a new suite of product brochures – some of which were unveiled at the event – and an upgrade of the CSX website, planned for 2014.  The common theme was modernisation and how the Exchange plans to develop its trading markets, in particular for equities and insurance linked products.

During the open forum there was discussion of whether modernisation meant that the Exchange was moving away from its core traditional business of listing investment funds and structured products, which is not the case according to Nick Small, CSX Head of Listings. “We are certainly not turning our backs on the specialist listings which have been the key to the successful development of the Exchange over the years.  Many of our new rules are in fact intended to provide new opportunities for this type of specialist business,” he said.

The Forum also covered an initiative to promote stability in global financial markets.  Guest speakers Scott Preiss, Chief Operating Officer and Jim Taylor, Managing Director at CUSIP Global Services discussed the opportunity for the Cayman Islands to participate in the rollout of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI’s). The LEI initiative is a response to some of the events of the financial crisis where lack of basic information on financial entities compounded crises such as the Lehmans collapse.

The CSX explained the importance of the Forum which it intends to host annually for its major stakeholders, the listing agents, and hopes for it to be a regular opportunity to brief and engage them in debate on new developments.

NOTE:

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX) is a leading stock exchange for specialist companies and investors.   The CSX is an affiliate member of IOCSCO and the World Federation of Exchanges and is accredited by HM Revenue and Customs as a recognised stock exchange.  The CSX is the only offshore stock exchange to be a member of the Inter Market Surveillance Group.  The CSX has a listed market value of over US$165 billion.