KINGSTON, Jamaica — NCB Financial Group Limited (NCB Group) said it has begun trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) causing the old identifier for National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB) to cease trading on the JSE.

The bank in a news release said that the ceremonial digital renaming exercise yesterday at the JSE was being done for the first time in that manner in Jamaica.

The newly created NCB Financial Group Ltd was incorporated in April 2016 to be the official holding company for NCB and, on March 16, officially began trading under the symbol NCBFG.

However, it cannot be included in the JSE Select Index like its predecessor, NCB, until its performance has been tracked through to the end of the year. This particular index tracks the performance of the 15 most liquid companies in trading, the bank disclosed.  

The move comes against the background of provisions in the Banking Services Act regarding financial holding company (FHC) licenses, which gives a deposit taking institution the option of operating as its own FHC or as a subsidiary of a new FHC.

The bank chose the latter as the more advantageous option for future growth, with shareholders receiving ordinary shares in NCBFG, in exchange for their shares in NCB. These have been listed for equal value to those previously held in NCB.