As of November 1, 2005 all companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange will be required to submit their financial statements electronically. This was announced by JSE’s General Manager,
Mrs. Marlene Street, at the official launch of the organization’s website at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on July 19, 2005.
Currently all listed companies submit their audited and quarterly financial statements to the JSE in a paper-based format. However, the new website’s interface allows for financial reports to be posted electronically through a Content Management System.
Through this fully automated extranet, listed companies and stockbroker members will be able to manage and maintain relevant information which will be made available to the public. This storehouse of information will include: contacts, company summary, products and services for Exchange members and news.
The new website will also enable account holders of the Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD) to access their statements on line.
In rolling out the list of enhancements, the General Manager pointed out that the new website which has had over 200,000 hits between May and June, was created to present the JSE “in its role as publisher, generator of news, patron of education, sponsors of scholarly research and a storehouse of statistical data.”
“In short, the website will be useful, generating more timely and more pertinent data to enable persons to make informed decisions which will redound to the growth in the number of satisfied investors,” she said.
Some of the features that the new website boasts are: real time stock ticker, showing the latest trades with price and volumes traded; automated delivery of stock and index information based on specified data; automated newsroom for the delivery of JSE and listed company news, bulletins and financial reports.
Investors will be able to download historical data for stocks or indices; see graphical presentations of stock and index performance over a period of time and conduct stock searches. There will also be the automated delivery of daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly annual market reports.
Paid membership areas have been established for the delivery of advanced charting and access to archived data over two years. There are also opportunities for advertisements and an on-line store with e-commerce facility.
In his address, JSE’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Roy Johnson said that the “explosion of online service and the rising popularity of the Internet have created new opportunities for the Exchange to utilize in its drive to improve the level of service it provides to the market and the development of the market.”.
“We aim for an Exchange easily accessible and actively used by more investors. Investors, we find, are expecting access to an even greater amount of information than ever before. Our website is responding to this need.
Analysts are demanding greater disclosure. In fact we have reached the stage where analysts are of the view that segment reporting should enable them to see how the company is managed from management’s perspective. They want to be able to answer questions like how resource allocation decisions are made between segments of the business. This thirst for improved information and more detailed disclosure is a normal progression in the development of the market place, and the JSE and the listed companies are embracing this.” he said.
