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Major Political and Economic Events |
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8100
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The introduction of the Insider Trading Laws.a4 |
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910401
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Cross-border trading was permitted among the residents of Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago in shares of companies listed on the respective stock exchanges; for exchange control purposes, participating residents and companies of the other two countries were designated as residents of Trinidad and Tobago.a3(first entry) |
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970405
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A new Companies Act came into force. Under the Companies Ordinance and the Foreign Investment Act, a foreign investor may purchase shares in a local corporation, incorporate or set up a branch office in Trinidad and Tobago, or form a joint venture or partnership with a local entity. Businesses may be freely purchased or disposed of. Private enterprises and public enterprises are treated equally with respect to access to markets, credit, and other business operations. However, foreign investors currently must obtain a license before they can legally acquire more than 30 percent of a publicly-held company.pp |
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9801
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Planning and Development Minister Trevor Sudama announced that the government would seek to earn US$90.6 million by selling 30 state-run companies. |
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9802
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The government announced plans to cash out of its majority stake in National Flour Mills, the largest flour mill in the Caribbean. |
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980415
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(Provisions specific to commercial banks and other credit institutions) The authorities reduced the reserve requirement applied to domestic currency deposits from 24% to 21%, and extended it to include new fund raising instruments. A supplemental reserve requirement of 5% applies, which can be held in treasury securities. A reserve requirement of 9% applies to nonbank institutions.a3 |
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9800
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In the second quarter, two ammonia plants and one methanol facility commenced operations. |
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9800
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In the third quarter, higher food prices forced the government to revise its projection for 1998 inflation from 3.8% to 6.3%. |
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9800
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In the forth quarter, Norsk Hydro announced its intention to invest in an aluminum smelter facility that would export to U.S. and Latin American automobile industries. Moody awarded the government kudos as the rating agency upgraded domestic currency bonds, citing a 20% decline in public debt since 1993. |
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9812
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WTO urged the government to diversify the economy beyond the oil and gas industry, which accounted for 75% of the country's exports. |
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9901
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Prices for Western Texas Intermediate Crude, a proxy for Trinidad's oil mix, rose from US$11 dollars per barrel in January to US$25 per barrel by November. |
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9906
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New plants in the energy sector were put into operation. |
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9909
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S&P lifted Trinidad's debt rating to 'BBB-', an investment grade. |
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9900
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Trinidad Cement listed on Jamaican stock exchange and Jamaican conglomerate Grace Kennedy listed on Barbado's bourse. Cross listing was expected to increase share liquidity for investors and access to capital for Caribbean companies. |
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200000
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In the first quarter, domestic companies made foreign acquisitions: Guardian Holdings acquired four Jamaican insurance companies and Prestige Holdings acquired KFC franchises in three countries. |
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200006
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S&P affirmed the 'BBB-' foreign currency sovereign rating and assigned the same rating to its forthcoming bond offering. Hence Trinidad and Tobago successfully raised US$250 million in 20-year bonds. |
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200009
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BP Amoco announced that it had made its largest natural gas discovery off the Trinidad coast, which placed Trinidad and Tobago as an upcoming leader in natural gas exports. |
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200010
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An automated central securities depository started, an important step toward improving clearing efficiency and boosting cross listings of issues on the Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica exchanges. |
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200012
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The primarily black People's National Movement mounted a legal challenge to the election results, showing the country's ethnic divide. |
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200100
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A year-long political crisis led to December parliamentary elections, which ended in a tie between the UNC (the United National Congress) and the PNM (the People's National Movement). |
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200100
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Corporate activity was vibrant during 2001. RBTF Financial acquired Union Bank of Jamaica and ABN Amro's operations in Aruba as well as the Netherlands Antilles. Primary markets were open, with three new issues providing much needed liquidity and diversification to the local stock exchange. But the ensuing activity in primary markets was not matched by liquidity in the secondary markets. |
| 20020228 | Following yesterday's upgrade by Standard & Poor's on its outlook for the sovereign, Fitch yesterday downgraded its outlook. Like Standard & Poor's, Fitch affirmed the investment grade rating of the Republic Bank and Royal Bank at BBB-. Fitch does not rate the Trinidad and Tobagan sovereign. However, Fitch shifted its outlook from stable to negative, whereas Standard and Poor's moved yesterday from stable to positive. |
| 20020408 | Prime Minister Patrick Manning has requested that parliament be suspended after five months of deadlock over the tied election |
| 20020606 | Steve Ferguson, chairman of the Maritime Financial Group of Companies has appeared in court on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Airports Authority of almost US$3.3m. Ferguson is a well-known financial supporter of former prime minister Basdeo Panday (1995-2001), and was charged in March along with former government ministers Brian Kuei Tung and Russell Huggins, Maritime Financial CEO John Henry Smith, financial officer Amrit Maharaj and businesswoman Renee Pierre. |
| 20020920 | Former prime minister and current opposition leader, Basdeo Panday of the United National Congress (UNC), has been charged with failing to declare a bank account which he holds jointly with his wife in London that contains just under US$1m. |
| 20021008 | After a closely fought election, the ruling People's National Movement appears to have gained a victory that will break a political deadlock, ongoing since December 2001. |
| 20030317 | Max Richards today becomes the fourth president of Trinidad and Tobago since the country gained independence from Britain in 1962. Richards succeeds Ray Robinson, who leaves office after five years in the post. Richards was chosen by Trinidad and Tobago's Electoral College on 14 February. |
| 20030403 | Ratings agency Standard and Poor's yesterday upgraded local and foreign currency ratings for Trinidad and Tobago. Local long-term ratings have increased from BBB+ to A-, whilst foreign currency ratings have increased from BBB- to BBB. The agency pinned the upgrade on improvements in debt and liquidity indicators for the country. Those have mainly been generated from current-account surpluses (chiefly from good oil income) and significant inflows of foreign direct investment. GDP growth of 4.2% last year was underpinned by increasing interaction both with the US and other Caribbean economies. |
| 20030528 | British West Indies Airways Faces Closure Because of Debts |
| 20030711 | IMF Praises Trinidad and Tobago's 'Prudent' Economic Management |
| 20030930 | Prime Minister Patrick Manning is set to announce a cabinet reshuffle |
| 20031114 | Bogus bomb Scare Closes Trinidad Airport |
| 20040314 | Ex-government Ministers Brian Kuei Tung and Russell Huggins appeared in court this week to face a string of corruption and money laundering charges. |
| 20040517 | An opposition MP's kidnapped son was found dead at the weekend (15-16 May 2004), fuelling security concerns on the two-island state of Trinidad & Tobago, which has been rocked recently by a spate of bomb scares amid increased incidents of violent crime, causing WMRC to downgrade its security risk rating from 2.5 to 3.0. |
| 20040618 | Standard & Poor's (S&P) yesterday raised its ratings for Trinidadian sovereign debt by one notch and revised the outlook to positive from stable. The agency now rates long-term foreign currency bonds BBB+ (two notches into investment grade), long-term local currency debt A and short-term local currency paper A-1. |
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Regulations on Foreign Investors |
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1998
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Restrictions: None. Taxation: 10% dividend tax on a parent company and 15% on other companies. 20% payment tax (interest on debt, mortgage, or other securities will taxed at 20%). No capital-gains tax.a6 |
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1999
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Restrictions: Foreign investors require a license to hold shares or debentures over 30% of the shares in a public company. Taxation: Up to 30% withholding tax. No change to capital-gains tax.a7 |