The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has launched a landmark initiative to advance economic integration across the Caribbean Community (Caricom), committing $100,000 to fund a feasibility assessment for establishing a regional securities exchange under the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) framework.
The assessment will be carried out by the Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO), which has been tasked with mapping out the technical, legal, and economic viability of a unified regional exchange. Beyond core viability checks, the study will also evaluate which operating model best aligns with the unique needs of individual member states and their existing domestic financial markets.
CDB officials emphasize that deepening and expanding accessible regional capital markets is a critical prerequisite to boosting entrepreneurship, accelerating innovation, and attracting sustained investment across the Caribbean. “Long-term growth across the Caribbean depends on our ability to build financial systems that give businesses streamlined access to the capital they need to expand,” explained Lisa Harding, head of CDB’s Private Sector Division.
This feasibility study marks the official first phase of a broader project aimed at advancing deeper financial integration across Caricom. Over the course of the assessment, researchers will examine regional demand for capital market services, opportunities to harmonize cross-border financial regulations, successful global case studies of regional exchanges, and priorities from both member state governments and private sector stakeholders.
A unified regional exchange would deliver widespread benefits across the bloc: it would give domestic firms from small member states far easier access to capital from regional investors, while simultaneously offering local investors exposure to a far broader pool of assets than the tiny, fragmented national exchanges currently operating across most of the Caribbean.
For small economies like Suriname, the initiative carries particularly high stakes. Suriname’s domestic capital market is currently very small, with only a limited number of listed domestic companies. Access to a regional exchange would remove key barriers to growth for Surinamese firms, making it far simpler to secure financing for expansion and large-scale investment projects. Beyond individual national benefits, an integrated capital market would also boost cross-border investment flows across Caricom and strengthen overall economic cooperation between member states.
The concept of a regional Caribbean securities exchange is not a new one: discussions around building an integrated capital market as a core pillar of the CSME have been ongoing for decades. A unified exchange has long been framed as a critical infrastructure to enable the free movement of capital across the bloc and better connect the region’s fragmented financial systems. With CDB’s new funding for the feasibility study, the long-discussed initiative has finally received tangible new momentum. The study’s final findings will clarify whether the region is prepared to move forward with the project, and outline what regulatory and institutional steps will be required to turn the plan into a working reality.