BISX News

On August 3, 2020, the Chief Executive Officer of The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX), Mr. Keith Davies, was invited to do a segment on the popular Bahamian daytime show, “The Bahamas at Sunrise”.

Mr. Davies spoke about the role of the Exchange and the importance of information disclosure in allowing investors to make informed investment decisions. He also reiterated the importance of investor education to the operation of the Bahamian capital markets. Starting that education from investors are students and instilling principles of saving and investment from that early stage.

This year marks the 20 th Anniversary of BISX commencing operations, and Mr. Davies took the opportunity to reminisce on the 20 year journey. He spoke about the many challenges and the triumphs faced by BISX and the Bahamian Economy over those 20 years and then turned to optimistically contemplating what the next 20 years may hold.

For Additional Information Contact:
Elude Michel-Sturrup
BISX Tel: 242-323-2330
Fax: 242-323-2320
Email: info@bisxbahamas.com

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

JANUARY TO JUNE 2020 STATISTICAL REPORT

BISX is pleased to announce its BISX All-Share Index and trading statistics for the six-month period ending June 30, 2020 with comparison to the same period of 2019.

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX

For the six-month period ending June 30, 2020 the BISX All-Share Index closed at 2124.69. This represents a year to date decrease of 106.91 or 4.79%. By comparison for the six-month period ending June 30, 2019 the BISX All-Share Index closed at 2160.46. This represents a year to date increase of 50.51 or 2.42%. The BISX All-Share Index is a market capitalization weighted index comprised of all primary market listings excluding debt securities.

As at June 30, 2020 the market was comprised of 19 ordinary shares with a market capitalization of $4.531 Billion. In addition, there were 7 preference shares with a market capitalization of $243.11 Million and 11 bonds with a face value of $507 Million.

As at December 31, 2019 BISX had 85 mutual funds with total assets under management of approximately $4.9 Billion.

MARKET CAPITAL

Over the 3-year period 2018 to 2020, the market value of all securities listed on BISX has shown an increase from 2018 to 2019 and a decrease from 2019 to 2020, as indicated by the chart below:

COMPARISON OF BISX ALL SHARE INDEX TO INTERNATIONAL INDICES

Over the 6-month period January 2 to June 30, 2020, some international equity markets have experienced decreases as indicated by the chart below:

TRADING VOLUMES AND VALUES

Trading volume for the six-month period January 2, 2020 to June 30, 2020 was 2,624,048 shares for a value of $11,622,255.68.  Trading volume for the six-month period January 2, 2019 to June 30, 2019 was 4,456,110 shares for a value of $21,868,819.

Trading volume for the three-month period April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 was 1,173,646 shares for a value of $3,762,345.12. Trading volume for the three-month period April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019 was 2,183,140 shares for a value of $12,080,550.63.

AVERAGE DAILY VOLUME AND VALUE

For the six-month period from January 2, 2020 to June 30, 2020, the average volume per trading day was 21,200 shares for a value of $93,128.23.  By comparison, for the six-month period from January 2, 2019 to June 30, 2019, the average volume per trading day was 36,056 shares for a value of $177,209.17.

SHARE VOLUME AND VALUE LEADERS (SIX MONTH PERIOD)

The top five share volume leaders on BISX for the six-month period January 2, 2020 to June 30, 2020 with their contribution to total traded volume displayed as a percentage were:

The top five share value leaders on BISX for the six-month period January 2, 2020 to June 30, 2020 with their contribution to total traded value displayed as a percentage were:

SHARE VOLUME AND VALUE LEADERS (THREE MONTH PERIOD)

The top five share volume leaders on BISX for the three-month period April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 with their contribution to total traded volume displayed as a percentage were:

The top five share value leaders on BISX for the three-month period April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 with their contribution to total traded value displayed as a percentage were:

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION – July 8, 2020

BISX CEO Keith Davies with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K. Peter Turnquest (file photo from August 2017 courtesy call)

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX or the Exchange) is pleased to announce that trading in Bahamas Registered Stock (BRS) will begin on Thursday, 9^th July 2020. This will be the first time that these instruments are available for trading on BISX, the National Stock Exchange of The Bahamas, and represents a significant advance in the Bahamian capital markets.

BRS represent the medium and long-term debt issued by the Government of The Bahamas, and there will be 220 BRS instruments available for trading with a total face value of $3.6 billion. BRS will be listed with maturities ranging from 1 year to 30 years.

During 2017, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of The Bahamas (Central Bank) and BISX embarked on a three-year project, to facilitate the listing and full electronic trading of BRS on the Exchange.  As a result of these efforts, the Central Bank became a BISX Broker Member on 19^th July 2019, all BRS were approved for listing on BISX on 1^st August 2019, and now the trading of all BRS will commence during July 2020.  BISX Brokers will be able to trade BRS on behalf of their clients, with all transactions being settled through the Bahamas Government Securities Depository.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Hon K. Peter Turnquest stated “This is another milestone in the evolution of the Bahamian capital markets, and delivers on a key component of our overall initiative to strengthen the public debt management framework and promote the development of the Government bond market.  In the long term, it will facilitate the issuance of these securities and help to reduce the Government’s overall funding costs. Investors will also benefit from the greater ease of purchasing and transacting these instruments. We are proud to be one of the first Caribbean nations to trade our public debt via our national stock exchange.  We look forward to working with BISX on other projects that benefit Bahamian investors.”

John Rolle Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas noted: “We are happy to have been a part of this project which is integral to the development of our domestic financial market infrastructure. Trading of fixed rate government securities creates important benchmarks for investors and other issuers that can then be used in evaluating the rates of other issuers.  As a part of this project, the Central Bank also became a BISX Broker Dealer Member in order to play a role in this regulated market.”

Andrew Strachan, Chairman of BISX commented on this milestone noting: “This project involved a significant effort on the part of the entire BISX, Central Bank and Ministry of Finance staff. We are proud of this foundational development in the Bahamian capital markets and the benefit that it will have to Government, to issuers and to Bahamian investors.”

Keith Davies, the Chief Executive Officer at BISX commented, “From its inception, the goal of BISX was to list and trade Government securities; therefore, this 20 year in the making achievement is a milestone, not only for the Exchange but for our country.  I am delighted that we have finally accomplished this goal. There were some challenges along the way, however, the three organizations worked together to arrive at this trading day. We have prepared a system that will allow for the seamless trading of BRS, utilizing our electronic trading system in a regulated electronic exchange.  Today is certainly historic.”

BRS will be viewable on their own specific section of the BISX website with information for each instrument located separately.