Apr 2006 Financial News

JSE to require TRN for stock trades

Apr 05, 2006

Investors who buy stocks in Jamaica will, by the end of May, be required to provide their tax registration number (TRN) as part of what the JSE says is a move to bring Jamaica in line with practices in developed markets. The Jamaica Stock Exchange recently sent out an advisory to stockholders informing them of the change.

Yesterday, the general manager Marlene Street-Forrest told the Business Observer that the TRN, as a unique number, will allow the exchange to provide consolidated information to stock clients on all their accounts with brokers.

"What we have been having since 1998, is a call from the marketplace that they would like to see consolidated statements," said Street-Forrest. "(Before) if an account holder had 10 brokers, they got 10 statements. That's not efficient, so we are going to consolidate so that they know their position in terms of their investment in one statement."

The TRN will be handled by the Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD), the JSE's subsidiary that is its technical arm. The JCSD deals with matters relating to account holders - from sending them annual statements of account, to providing information upon request.

"We thought we would consolidate using a unique identifier," Street told the Business Observer yesterday. "What would be most appropriate? A unique identifier that the client can relate to and which does not change from one time to the other, which is a TRN number."

Jamaicans are required to produce their TRN when doing business with most government agencies, and in several forms of transaction with private companies.
Street-Forrest said yesterday that utilising that system would significantly reduce production cost for the depository in the preparation and mailing of statements.

"(This method) also creates efficiency for the depository," she said. "The time we would take to print 82,000 statements, for example, it might mean that we might be printing 50 to 70 statements. So it's a lot of efficiency that it brings to the table."

On the other hand, Street-Forrest said she was aware of the concerns that some investors will have in disclosing such a personal number, and information about their activities reaching the hands of the government.

"What I want to get across is that the depository has an obligation and it must be understood, to treat each account holder's information confidential," stressed Street-Forrest. "When these numbers are sent to us and put into the depository, as we have done in the past, we continue to maintain confidentiality."

She added: "We cannot give information to the government; the only way that a depository has an obligation to give information required by any government authority is through a court order. So this information is not in any alliance with the government for tax or any other purpose."

Julian Richardson
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Jamaica Observer
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20060404T200000-0500_101995_OBS_JSE_TO_REQUIRE_TRN_FOR_STOCK_TRADES_.asp