Building Investor Confidence and Awareness in Belize

One example that Claude Haylock, the Director General at the Financial Services Commission, highlighted is an Initial Public Offering or IPO that the San Pedro Town Council recently floated. This IPO is valued at twenty-eight million dollars. The FSC is not responsible for promoting such opportunities. They exist to build investor confidence and awareness while carrying out their regulatory responsibilities.

 

Claude Haylock, Director General, FSC

“Let me give you a real example right now. We have just approved, I shouldn’t say the word approved, under the Municipal Securities Act, the San Pedro Town Council has floated and IPO to the tune of twenty-eight million dollars which if Belizeans, the IPO is put out there, Belizeans can look at it and subscribe to it. They can buy a piece of that bond offering. It is an attractive interest rate, an attractive rate of return, so why not. We are not here to promote that. That is not what we do as regulators. I just wanted to give that as an example of a practical way that we are starting to deepen the investment market in Belize. There are others that are warming up. We have nine registrants under the Securities Industry Act, sixteen, so there is real activities take place. There are brokers, dealers, agents, so Belizeans have an opportunity to be able to engage these people to look for investment opportunities other than holding land or keeping the money in your bank account or hiding it under your mattress.”