Several local stakeholders have welcomed the new Caribbean Business Exchange (CBX) cable television channel to Jamaica.
The CBX, which is a division of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), will provide 24 hours of news and information on local, regional, and global business, financial, and capital market developments to more than 30 countries across the Caribbean.
The channel, which was formally launched on Wednesday by JSE Managing Director, Dr. Marlene Street Forrest, will broadcast on channel 143 on the Flow Network and 28 on Digicel.
Immediate Past President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Lloyd Distant Jr., who spoke at the launch, said CBX’s content will serve to expand investors’ access to information and provide deeper insights that allow them to make more informed decisions regarding existing and prospective investments.
“What I see this platform being able to do is provide clearer perspectives on the current operations and future direction of our industries and our companies, as well. This increased access to information… is very much about providing and improving transparency, which, of note, is one the JSE’s core values and one of the first of its listed objectives.”
Distant Jr. said consequent on the opportunity the platform presents to enhance financial literacy, the JCC “expects this to go a far way in bringing a new set of investors into the fold”.
“We consider this platform to be well needed, and we laud the JSE; we see this as… a monumental initiative. It is the JCC’s hope that as more information is disseminated, more businesses will contemplate utilizing the stock exchange as an approach to raising capital as well as streamlining and expanding their businesses,” he added.
NCB Capital Markets Limited Chief Operating Officer (COO), Tracey-Ann Spence, described CBX as a “game-changing venture”.
She noted that information remains a critical and necessary tool for day-to-day decision-making at all levels of the investment space.
“By launching the CBX, the JSE stands to bolster the expansion of access to vital information that will benefit all stakeholders within the financial ecosystem. It is this sort of cross-sharing of information that will bridge the gap in regional connectivity,” she added. Spence said the evolution of technology over the years has created a level of access to information “never before seen”.
This, she pointed out, has significantly increased the investor base as well as the number of companies seeking funding, via the JSE.
The COO noted, however, that while the public has “endless choices” in relation to data provided and consumed, the information may not [always] be accurate or may be presented in a format that’s not easily understood.
She said this poses a risk for investor education and financial literacy, overall, within the region.
Interim Chief Executive Officer for Barita Investments Limited, Dane Brodber, said it was “refreshing” to have a channel that “talks to us directly in the brokerage and analyst community throughout the region and to the wider regional investment community”.
Brodber said within what he described as a “fast emerging” business environment space, “I really look forward to the [CBX] establishing itself as an authority”.
Chief Executive Officer of the Fosrich Group of Companies, Cecil Foster, said the CBX’s offerings are welcome as, “for businesses like [ours], the Caribbean means a lot.”
The Caribbean Business Exchange will broadcast under the tagline – ‘Your Region, Your Business, Your Source’.
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