By Svetlana Marshall
Chairman and Managing Director of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis, has issued a call for the laws and regulations governing the capital market to be reviewed, after his company experienced significant hurdles in its bid to fully register and have its shares traded on the Guyana Stock Exchange.
The Guyana Securities Council (GSC), established under the Securities Industries Act, is mandated to ensure the orderly growth of the securities market in Guyana, but during Banks DIH Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, Mr. Reis told the company’s shareholders that features of a vibrant and active capital market are absent.
He explained that although public companies have been trading their shares for over 22 years, no additional public company has been listed or bond issued to date. He said to compound the situation, there is no mechanism for price stabilization.
“We have to review the laws and the regulations of the capital market and to make the necessary amendments so as to support and encourage a vibrant capital market in the context of a growing economy in Guyana. We have to have the creation of a manual or a play book for the regulators so as to avoid recourse to the courts for the interpretation of the relevant laws and regulations. Consideration to be given by the Guyana Stock Exchange for annual fees to be paid by all public companies listed on secondary market, and consideration of a creation of a price stabilization mechanism immediately,” the Chairman of Banks DIH Holdings said.
Reis said it was important for other public companies to raise their voices, and not to be silent on the need for reform.
It took Banks DIH 18 months before it could have been registered as a holding company, having only received its Certificate of Registration from the Guyana Securities Council on January 3, 2025.
“It cannot be seriously disputed that Banks DIH Limited before being replaced by Banks DIH Holding Inc. was the icon of public companies in Guyana. It has 15,393 shareholders, 69 years as a public company, and it pays an average of $51.5 Million per day in excise taxes, corporation taxes, VAT, environmental levy, and PAYE. Notwithstanding all of that, it took 18 months after the shareholders’ approval for Banks DIH Holding Inc to be fully registered as a public company, and to be activated so that its shares can be trade on the Guyana Stock Exchange,” Reis said.
Chronicling the challenges experienced by the conglomerate, Reis explained that although the process was initiated on July 15, 2023 with the overwhelming support of the shareholders, it was dragged out for 18 long months due to repeated requests for information from the Guyana Securities Council.
“For the implement of the scheme of arrangement, it was required by the Securities Legislation that Banks DIH cease to be a public company, and its registration delisted by the Guyana Securities Council and for Banks DIH to be listed as a reporting issue. The applications to the securities council were made on the 8th September 2023, four days after the court’s approval. Thereafter, there were extended correspondence between the Banks DIH Limited and the Guyana Securities Council, who continue to demand information, and was never satisfied with the provisions of such information. We were going around, my fellow shareholders in circle,” he explained.
Banks DIH, he said, was forced to initiate legal proceedings in December 2023, and some seven months later, the Court fixed a date for the provision of information by Banks DIH Limited to the Securities Council.
He said the correspondence returned with demands for information. However, by August 2024, the Securities Council agreed to have the matter placed before its Board of Directors for consideration, but there was no board in place for two years.
A Board was appointed in September and later met in October 2024. It was during that meeting that the Board of Directors of the Guyana Securities Council approved the delisting of Banks DIH Limited, and the registering of Banks DIH Holdings Inc.
“However, my fellow shareholders, to our great surprise, the Guyana Securities Council withheld the issuance of the certificate of registration, and made further demands for additional information, which it claimed was necessary before it could release the certificate of registration. Accordingly, for the next two months, there was more correspondence,” Reis said.
He said Banks DIH had cause to write the Securities Council in December, and one month later, the company was issued with its Certificate of Registration. Banks DIH is one of the largest companies in Guyana and has led the way for many years in the manufacturing sector.
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