DESPITE being relisted to the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on May 5 after 13 years, local investors had limited options to access the shares of regional insurance giant Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL). However, NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) has decided to improve the opportunity for access through the sale of 2 million shares. These 2 million shares are worth approximately $1.6 million.

Cross-listing of shares of companies onto the JSE facilitates the option for both domestic and foreign investors to do an interCSD (central securities depository) to move their holdings to another market where the shares are traded.

In the case of GHL, this would mean Trinidadian investors could transfer shares from the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) to the JSE. However, this process is not immediate and takes some time before the shares would be readily accessible on the JSE, since GHL listed by introduction and not by a secondary capital raise.

Chief executive officer of NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM) Steven Gooden stated in a brief call with the Jamaica Observer’s Caribbean Business Report, “After having cross-listed Guardian Holding Limited’s shares, the intention was to get the liquidity levels up by making a secondary market offer.”

Although there has been a trade in GHL every day since listing on the JSE, the availability of shares is a big issue.

Gooden expects this to change as there will be more shares available on the market for investors to trade. The offer will also allow GHL staff in Jamaica and NCBFG staff the opportunity to benefit from the continued growth of GHL which was only available on the TTSE before returning to the JSE. NCBCM is expecting its brokerage licence in Trinidad and Tobago to be approved before the end of the financial year despite the delays caused by the lockdowns and state of emergency.

Even at a high nominal price of more than $790 per share, GHL has been seeing an increase in daily volumes. This has been mainly due to the fact that investors can purchase one share in a company if they choose, rather than the 100 minimum which was required before 2019. The NCBCM lead offer will open on May 31 at $795 per share, with a minimum of 10 shares to subscribe and increments of 1 unit.