Cayman Islands: The Stock Exchange

On January 2, 1997 The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX) became part of the vast network of financial services offered by the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange was established under the Stock Exchange Company Law 1996 and is structured as a private limited company owned by the Cayman Islands Government. Its Board of Directors is comprised of senior professionals from the private sector of the financial services industry.

Listing Rules of the Exchange provide for:

• Domestic debt and equity

• Mutual Funds

• International debt ( including special purpose vehicles and Eurobonds)

• Secondary listings

The Exchange specializes in the listing and trading of mutual funds and special purpose vehicles (SPV) incorporated in the Cayman Islands and in other offshore jurisdictions.

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange is determined to be the first exchange whose listing rules are specifically designated to facilitate the listing of the securities of these entities.

Listing Procedures:
All applications for listing on the CSX are required to be submitted by Listing Agents. The Exchange publishes a list of the approved Listing Agents.

Listing Requirements:
Full disclosure of all information which a potential investor would need to confirm prior to the decision to invest in the listed security published financial statements.

The CSX's Listing Rules establishes specific and concise requirements and procedures for each type of security.

Trading:
There is no actual trading floor as all trading is done electronically and the trading information can be accessed from the Exchangeís dedicated electronic pages on the Bloomberg network.

Regulation:
The Government Regulation of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange is provided by a five member Authority which is comprised of the Financial Secretary, the Attorney General, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority and two additional government appointees.

The Financial Secretary has the statutory responsibility for policy, regulation and supervision of the Exchange including the power to suspend dealings in particular securities or to suspend trading on the Exchange.

On 12th July, 1999 the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange ("CSX") was admitted to the London Stock Exchange's list of approved organizations.

This is the first time an offshore stock exchange has been added to the list. The CSX now joins such institutions as the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and all official stock exchanges in Europe and Japan.

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange now has a total of 1000 listed issuers with a combined market capitalization of over $77 billion. The figures represent a total increase of 40% in new business since the beginning of 1999.