Apr 2006 Financial News

JMMB going to the Dom Rep

Apr 24, 2006

Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) will begin operating in the Dominican Republic by mid-year, as part of the programme by the money market company to expand into the wider Caribbean region.

"At this point, we are not looking at a partnership, we are looking at establishing a presence by ourselves," Leon Williams, Caribbean business development manager at JMMB told Sunday Finance on Wednesday. "Our plan is to have a presence in this quarter," said Williams. "Our financial year ends March 31st, so that's within April, May or June."

JMMB which already has operations in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados, was attracted to the Spanish-speaking market because of the size - it is significantly larger than the combined markets of the English-speaking territories in which the company already has a presence.

Williams said that there were also similarities between the Dominican Republic and the other English-speaking regional markets that made it suitable for expansion.

"It is not necessarily any movements in the capital markets there as much as it is a sizeable capital market, and it is also very similar to what we have here in the English-speaking Caribbean," he noted. "That means that the services that JMMB has pioneered here in the Jamaican market could be of use in that market and could be appreciated by the potential clients in that market."

Williams spoke to Sunday Finance about the plans to enter the Dominican Republic market during the Business Leader awards function at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday. At the function, Ryland Campbell, the executive chairman of Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, was named Business Leader for 2005. In 2002, JMMB's then CEO Donna Duncan-Scott was named Business Leader.

Anchored in Jamaica, JMMB established a presence in the Trinidadian market five years ago through a partnership with two Trinidadian companies - CL Financial Limited and CLICO Investment Bank Limited.

Last year, JMMB - which is listed in both Jamaica and T&T - announced that it was seeking over $1 billion via a region-wide rights issue, to fund expansion it was planning both locally and throughout the region.

The rights issue was later postponed because of the depression in the local equities market. While JMMB may have pushed back the time frame for the expansion, it did not abandon it.

Williams told Sunday Finance that the investment in the Dominican Republic would be funded from profits being generated by JMMB - which earned net income of $1.74 billion last calendar year.

Williams said that JMMB was aware of the potential challenges that this particular jurisdiction may pose, but said that JMMB was prepared for them.

"There is always the concern about being appropriately deferential to the local culture, while at the same time pioneering on behalf of the potential clients who are not getting as much value as they could," said Williams.

"We are aware that we need to strike a balance between respecting the local culture and striving to produce results on behalf of our investors and clients in the local market. However, we also believe that the existing companies and financial players are looking forward to collaborating with us to move the market ahead."

Julian Richardson
Jamaica Obsesrver
Sunday, April 23, 2006
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20060422T220000-0500_103203_OBS_JMMB_GOING_TO_THE_DOM_REP_.asp