The Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Practices Awards culminated on December 8, 2009 with a gala banquet at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel under the theme “Prosperity and growth for 2010”. This was interwoven in the décor as for the first time the Stock Exchange used fruit trees to decorate the entire hall. The purpose of this was to assist the country with its tree planting drive and to ensure that the production of food supply continues through the generations and most importantly assist in a small way to ensure the country’s food security. Associate Professor Dr. Geraldene Hodelin of the University of Technology delivered the key note address on the topic “quality, better quality and best quality”.
Mrs. Marlene Street Forrest, General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange in her welcome, told the audience that “the implementation of Best Practice is about challenging ourselves, especially when the tides are rough. It is not about cutting corners when the challenges present themselves. It is about principle and not exigency. I see Best Practices as a culture, as a lived experience that gets easier as we commit to getting it right”.
The guest speaker, Associate Professor Dr. Geraldene Hodelin, challenged all companies to attain their best. According to Dr. Hodelin “In an environment where mediocrity abounds and where bad policies and practices are being blamed for some of our current socio-economic woes, it is refreshing to see demonstrable evidence of best practices being undertaken by our local organizations and more importantly being recognized and hailed publicly…the three imperatives that should always be included in [companies] business mantra are quality, better quality and best quality every time, no matter what.
It was then left to the Chairman of the Best Practices Committee Professor Neville Ying, to speak to the 2008 competition and announce the winners. In his address he stated, “I am proud to be part of the Best Practices Awards Committee whose work over the last five years has enabled this function to grow to become a calendar event. This is now an event to which Listed Companies, Brokerages and other stakeholders look forward to attending, to share in the success of team work, hard work and dedication. This shows that hard work and dedication will pay off in the long run”. He then went on to announce the winners for each category.
The Best Practices Best Annual Report Award Committee chaired by Mr. Alvaro Casserly, encourages public listed companies to produce comprehensive, more reader-friendly annual reports and to provide greater insight into companies’ financial affairs, governance practices and business activities. In the area of Best Annual Report, third place went to JMMB and Sagicor Life Jamaica, the runner up were Scotia DBG and Scotia Group Limited and the company to walk away with the winning award in this category was PanCaribbean Financial Services Limited.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Practice Corporate Disclosure and Investor Relations Award serves to recognize companies that make timely and accurate reports and announcements to the JSE. This award also, encourages them to maintain good investor relations with the wider investing public. This Committee was chaired by Mr. Christopher Bovell. In third place was Scotia Group Ltd, with runner up National Commercial Bank. The winner was NCB Capital Markets Limited.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Performing Company Award seeks to identify and recognize outstanding performance by listed companies that enhances shareholder value in the areas of return on capital, improved profitability and direct return on shareholdings. The Chairman of this Committee was Dr. Noel Reynolds. In third place was Pulse Investments Limited, the runner up was Carreras Group and the winner Montego Free Port.
The Best Practices Investor Relations (Stockbrokerage), chaired by Dr. Brian Langrin, recognizes excellence in the services provided by stockbrokerages to investors, and was designed solely for the Brokerage Community. In third place was JMMB, with runner up Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited. The winner in this category was First Global Financial Limited.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Practices Website Award; this award has been divided into two categories; one being Jamaica Stock Exchange Website Award for Brokerages and the other the Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Practices Award for Listed Companies. This category was designed to encourage listed companies and stockbrokerages to raise the quality and efficiency of the dissemination of information to the investing public via their website. The Chairman of this committee was Mr. Errol Anderson. The following companies won awards in the Listed Companies category: third place was Scotia DBG Investments Limited, with runner up Guardian Holdings Limited and the winner was Trinidad Cement Limited.
In the Brokerages category, in third place was JMMB with runner up Scotia DBG Investment Limited and the winner NCB Capital Markets Limited.
The final category was the PSOJ/JSE Corporate Governance Award, which recognize companies that demonstrates and practice outstanding corporate governance. In third place was, GraceKennedy Limited the runner up was National Commercial Bank and the winner Sagicor Life of Jamaica.
The evening climaxed with the presentation of the prestigious Governor General Award by the Most Honourable Edward Seaga on behalf of the Governor General. There was a tie for first place and the companies that emerged as the overall winners were Scotia DBG Investment Limited and PanCaribbean Investment Limited.
