Know Your Rights As An Investor

The Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM) facilitates the trading of securities across the member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), namely, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. These Securities include debt and equity securities (such as corporate shares).

The Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC) is an independent, autonomous corporate body responsible for the regulation and governance of the ECSM. Market participants like the Securities Exchange, and other persons or entities engaged in securities business, including the Issuers of securities in the ECCU member countries, must comply with the legislative requirements prescribed in the ECSM Securities Laws. The ECSRC is accountable to the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. Its mandate includes the protection of investors from unfair, improper and fraudulent practices and fostering a fair, efficient and transparent securities market.

An “investor” is an individual, company or fund that buys securities or other assets with the expectation of profiting from the change in the value of those assets over time¹. As an investor on the ECSM, you are entitled to certain protections under the Securities Act of 2001.

As an investor, you are entitled to fundamental rights and protections under the Securities Act designed to promote fairness, transparency, and confidence in the market. You have the right to receive accurate, complete, and timely information about your investments, and if you suffer loss as a result of any violation of these rights, you are entitled to seek redress and, where appropriate, compensation. You are also entitled to trade in a properly regulated and transparent market where your orders are executed fairly, promptly, and at the best available price. The Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC) is responsible for ensuring active oversight of market participants and taking prompt regulatory action against misconduct. Above all, every investor has the right to equal opportunity and fair treatment in all securities market dealings.

Ask for and Receive information from the broker-dealer about the work history and background of the person handling your account, as well as information about the company itself. Additionally, you have a right to request and receive copies of all completed account forms and agreements, as well as account statements that are accurate and easily understandable. Furthermore, as an investor in a company’s securities, you have a right to pertinent business information about that company. This is in keeping with the requirements of Section 96(1) of the Securities Act that reporting issuers “keep the Commission, members of the issuer, other holders of its securities and the general public informed as soon as reasonably practicable of any information relating to the issuer and its subsidiaries. In practice, this may include the publishing of the companies’ audited financial statements, and disclosing biographical data on Senior Officers, Executive Officers, and Directors of these companies on an annual, quarterly or ad-hoc basis, in line with the legislative requirements. The timely disclosure of such information ensures that the most updated information is available to investors. Information on these companies are publicly available and easily accessible on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Information Network (ECSIN via https://www.ecsin.com/).

Receive complete information about the risk, obligations and costs of any investment. Section 93(1) of the Securities Act requires that “where a public offer of securities is to be made in a member territory the offeror shall publish a prospectus by making it available to the public, free of charge, at an address in a member territory, from the time the securities are first offered until the end of the period during which the offer remains open”. This is important to you since the prospectus includes information on the assets and liabilities, financial position, profit and losses, prospects of the issuers of the securities, rights of those securities (such as interest payable), and other prescribed requirements. The prospectus must detail all these relevant information on the Issuer and the security being offered and must be made available free of charge to the public for all sales of securities that are made to the public.

Receive recommendations consistent with your financial needs and investment objectives. Any investment on the ECSM must be transacted through a licensed broker dealer. Accordingly, broker-dealers have an obligation to advise prospective investors on suitable investments in keeping with investors’ risk appetite, and short, medium and long-term objectives.

Monitoring your investments: Your broker-dealer should provide clear and timely instructions on how you may access and monitor the ongoing performance of your investments.

Complaints Handling: Discuss any issues or complaints with your investment manager or compliance manager of your broker-dealer and receive prompt attention to and fair consideration of your concerns.

You may also report any perceived misconduct or abuse in the ECSM, or any other complaints to the ECSRC.

Contact the ECSRC:
You may contact the ECSRC at Tel: (869) 465-2537 Ext. 3279 or email: [email protected].