Trinidad and Tobago looks to Jamaica's Junior Stock Exchange to help its SMEs

(CMC) - The Trinidad and Tobago government says it is using the “very successful” model implemented by Jamaica with its Junior Stock Exchange to develop one for its small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 

Finance Minister, Colm Imbert said that it is noteworthy that Jamaica has been very successful with its JSE, noting that “where we have just two companies on the SME Tier of our market, both of which have struggled in recent times, Jamaica has 46 active companies listed on its Junior Market.

“So, we decided to see what was different in Jamaica that we could incorporate here. The key difference was the presence of mentors. In Jamaica, by strategically developing their competencies, and acting as a compliance advisor, mentors directly contribute to a company's growth, innovation, and overall strategy, thus improving customer and investor confidence in the company," he said. 

He was addressing Tuesday's launch of the SME Mentorship Programme and SME Market Place. 

Imbert said that these mentors are expected to act with due skill and care and be responsible for advising the board of the Junior Market Company on the establishment of adequate procedures, systems and controls, in order to comply with good standards of corporate governance.

He said these include the holding of regular board meetings, the establishment of appropriate committees of the board including an Audit Committee and a Compensation Committee as well as the carrying out of appropriate due diligence before it enters into any material transaction.

Imbert said good fiscal discipline, such as the keeping of proper accounts and records, good human resource and industrial relations practices and compliance with statutory obligations are also necessary.

Imbert told the launch that complementary to the tax incentives and to ease the operational burden of listing, the government in collaboration with the Central Bank and the Stock Exchange has designed a similar mentorship programme that would provide the necessary support to the SMEs and close the gaps of insufficient documentation, as well as ensure adherence to compliance and corporate governance standards.

He said the proposed SME mentorship rules were published by the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange in June this year and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August.

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