Business

3 min read

Jamaica: Barita receives PSOJ’s A-rating for corporate governance

Loop News
May 20, 2022 04:19 PM ET
Company Chairman Mark Myers (right) and Deputy Chairman Paul Simpson.
Company Chairman Mark Myers (right) and Deputy Chairman Paul Simpson.
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Barita Investments Limited has been rated as one of the top-performing companies on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), following the Private Sector Organisation’s (PSOJ) performance review of companies listed on the Junior and Main Markets that conform to corporate governance best practices as outlined by the Corporate Governance Index (CGI). 

Company Chairman, Mark Myers, explained that the review conducted by the JSE through an independent body, the Corporate Governance Index Review Committee, further cements Barita’s reliability, efficiency and transparency as one of the island’s leading brokerage firms.

“This is a result of the last three years of resolute and collaborative work at the board level, which has been cascaded down to the management and staff at the company. It reflects our deep, uncompromising commitment to the highest standards of governance which involves the progressive establishment of robust structures, policies, procedures, and disclosure requirements.

“These are bedrock principles to ensuring the protection of our customers while sustainably delivering superior results over the long term to all stakeholders including our staff, shareholders and regulators,” he said.

The CGI scores are published annually and since 2019, Barita’s performance scores have shown significant improvement. The company’s CGI score of 59.40 in 2019, which is a CC rating, equivalent to the current average CGI rating for listed companies, has increased to 80.42 per cent, resulting in the company receiving a grade ‘A’ in the recent review.

“We are unrelenting in our pursuit of global best practice standards across our business. Notwithstanding our recent exemplary CGI score, we have a little more work to do to secure the highest possible scores in the different areas of the independent review, and so we will keep our heads down and continue to work towards further strengthening our governance infrastructure and practices,” Myers continued.  

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Barita, Paul Simpson, commented: “Under the leadership and guidance of Michael Hylton, Barita’s newest Board Director and Chairman of the Board’s Governance Committee, together with Malindo Wallace, the company’s Group Legal Counsel and Company Secretary, the brokerage firm was able to effectively transform its governance structure and functions.”

Simpson pointed out that in addition to governance, risk management and compliance have been two critical areas that the boards of Barita and the Group have strengthened and transformed since the acquisition of the business by Cornerstone three years ago.

“We have established a comprehensive enterprise risk management framework that guides all key areas of our business operations to include strategic planning, on-book and off-book revenue-generating activities, operations management, internal controls, and inorganic related business expansion”, Simpson said.

Barita holds an industry-leading capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio of 52.4 per cent as at December 2021, which is well above the Financial Services Commission’s (FSC) minimum requirement of 10 per cent.

Scotia Investments and Mayberry, with a 2nd and 3rd placing, round out the top leading securities firms respectively, from a capital adequacy perspective based on published financial data.

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