CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) heads of government don't have far to go to find a good model for the regional stock exchange they are planning.

There is one right here in the region – the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE).

Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, said yesterday that the ECSE, headquartered in St Kitts, pointed the way forward for the rest of the Caribbean in key areas.

These include having common laws across many countries and advanced technology to provide "connectivity" across the network.

"So I think that's the model, if I may be immodest enough to say so, which should be followed," he told the DAILY NATION.

Sir Dwight is in Barbados to attend meetings connected to the 28th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference.

The ECSE is a regional stock exchange established by his bank to serve the eight member territories of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago also have stock exchanges.

Sir Dwight pointed out that when the ECSE was being set up issues of connectivity and the harmonisation of laws had to be sorted out.

The member-countries were far apart "so we had to have connectivity done", he commented.

"Our technology is quite advanced," he noted. "We have linked back to St Kitts from Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados, the BVI (British Virgin Islands), and from as far away as Singapore." (TY)