The formalisation of the local securities industry began as a policy decision by the Government in the 1970s, which sought to localise the foreign-owned commercial banking and manufacturing sectors of the economy.  The primary policy objective, at the time, was to encourage these businesses to divest and sell a majority of their shareholding to nationals. This resulted in the formation of the Capital Issues Committee, in July 1970, to oversee the primary market and the Call Exchange (which was established as a branch of the Central Bank in 1965).  In 1981 the Stock Exchange was established under the provisions of the Securities Industry Act 1981.  Figure 1 shows the evolution of the Securities Industry Act throughout the years.  Since 1981, there has been three (3) revisions to the initial Securities Industry Act; the first of which (“The Securities Industry Act, 1995”) established the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (“TTSEC”) as the securities industry’s regulator.

Regulating the Securities Industry