Towards capital market development in Guyana

Wayne Dass

By Wayne Dass, CFA

Chief Executive Officer

Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS)

CariCRIS’ is pleased to report that its February 24-27 inaugural Credit Risk Workshop in Guyana held at the Pegasus Hotel was – based on feedback received from the attendees – a successful and value-adding exercise. Participants in the exercise included representatives of the major commercial banks in Guyana, the Bank of Guyana and the recently established Credit Bureau. I believe that participation in the workshop has better positioned participants to understand the fundamentals of credit risk analysis and credit ratings, the methodologies and criteria for assessing the credit risk of countries, banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, and manufacturing and retail/distribution companies.

The theory behind these credit risk frameworks was made real and practical through the use of case studies in which the participants were required to conduct credit risk assessments of actual Caribbean countries and companies and present their final ratings for critique by the course facilitators, who are experts in regional credit rating assessments.

The outcomes of the workshop suggest that there is scope for additional training and I wish to signal the company’s interest in moving in that