By Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter 
Perkins (left) and Johnson (right)
THE JAMAICA Stock Exchange (JSE) will this month welcome the 11th seat holder when it admits Pan Caribbean Financial Services Ltd. (PCFS) into membership. JSE's executive chairman, Roy Johnson, announced this on November 30.
Stated the JSE, "PCFS, one of the larger financial service providers in Jamaica, will soon advise of its official date of commencement of brokerage operation and will then be 'seated' on the exchange's trading floor."
According to Donovon Perkins, chief
executive officer of PCFS, "We are putting in the infrastructure right now to set up our brokerage arm, which we think will be ready by next summer. Right now, we will only be trading our own accounts."
JOHNSON WELCOMES PCFS
Commenting on the newest JSE member, Mr. Johnson said, "We welcome them on board and are confident that they will bring significant value to the marketplace. Pan Caribbean is part of a substantial group of companies and will help to extend the reach of the stock market."
However, Mr. Johnson indicated to Sunday Business, "In my opinion, we will not be selling any other seats until the JSE is demutualised. Currently, its members who are also stockbrokers own the assets of the JSE, but plans are afoot to separate the ownership from the membership. That is, membership to trade on the exchange floor can be sold to entities that are not owners of the exchange. Demutualising will significantly cut the cost of trading access."
In fact, Mr. Johnson believes there is scope for the JSE to eventually list on the exchange, "depending on how far the owners want to go."
And in regards to the cost of PCFS trading access, Mr. Johnson said, "The price was in excess of $20 million."
With its seat firmly secured, PCFS can spread its wings across Jamaica and into the wider Caribbean. Rez Burchenson, tapped to head the equity trading division of PCFS, told Sunday Business, "We will, through our contacts in the Caribbean, offer portfolio planning that will include stock trading in the region. The market right now is very
sophisticated and our service will be geared towards meeting clients needs that goes without saying."
One of the Caribbean contacts, and indeed the most significant, is PCFS's ultimate
parent company, insurance giant Sagicor.
OWNERSHIP INCREASED
During the second week of November, it was announced that Life of Jamaica (LoJ) and its parent company, Sagicor, increased their ownership of PCFS.
LoJ, which currently owns nine per cent of PCFS, announced 'lock up' agreements with PCFS majority shareholders.
In previously published reports, Richard Byles, chief executive officer of LoJ and chairman of PCFS, stated, "It is well-known that LoJ and First Life Insurance Company are waiting on approval for First Life to sell their insurance business to us, in addition to selling us their 37 per cent shareholding in PCFS. So, if the Financial Services Commission gives us approval, then we will own 46 per cent of PCFS. The Matalon and Melhado families have also agreed to sell their 43 per cent shareholding in PCFS, which is a further 89 per cent shareholding, but LoJ is taking up only five to seven per cent of that ownership to get a 51 per cent ownership. The rest, about 36 per cent, will be owned by Sagicor."
