Barita Investments has signed on to online trading platform Stock USA, which will allow its clients — either directly or through the local stockbroking and fixed-income trading company — to trade in any stock that has a ticker on any of the US stock exchanges including fortune 500 and other blue chip stocks.

“We signed an agreement with them to provide this facility to clients who we will refer to them,” Barita’s general manager Ian McNaughton told the Business Observer yesterday.

The minimum investment is US$1,500 ($130,500) with the maximum dependent on how much the client wants to trade. However, McNaughton said he would not advise the uninitiated to engage in equities trading.

“It is very risky investing in remote equities and it is not something that the uninitiated should do unless they are very comfortable with it. It takes time and attention,” McNaughton said.

The facility is open to clients of Barita only and at the moment, the deal with Stock USA is exclusive to the company with the normal exit and termination clauses if either party is dissatisfied with the outcome of the arrangement.

Even though the facility is offshore, traders are still subject to the rules governing trade in foreign exchange, including money laundering and other issues in Jamaica.

“All the parameters that the client would be required to adhere to will be discussed with the client,” McNaughton said when asked about this issue. “What we are about is offering greater choices to our clients and this is one way of offering that variety.”

“We have the facility available now. If a client comes in and has all the necessary paperwork done we would expect they would have access to the platform within a week,” McNaughton added.

Barita will earn from fees for referrals and commissions per transactions made by clients. However McNaughton would not say how much the company stands to earn from the transactions or how much clients would pay for the service.

“I can’t speak to that right now. However it is reasonable compared to what is being offered in the market right now,” he said.

Stock USA, based in New York, offers equities, options and futures transactions on multiple exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, NYSE ARCA, AMEX and BATS, through a direct access software trading system.