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The significant cost of producing and handling the coins coupled with their very low purchasing power and the public’s perceived inconvenience in using the coins are the main reasons for withdrawing the coins. Everyone will benefit from the withdrawal.
The ECCB will stop issuing one and two cent coins to commercial banks and the commercial banks will no longer issue these coins to the public. Rounding rules will be applied for the settlement of cash transactions. (Kindly refer to answers for questions 5-12)
Yes. The coins can still be used to purchase goods and services as they remain legal tender up to 30 June 2020. Alternately the coins can be deposited or exchanged for face value at any of the commercial banks within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) during the five year period ending 30 June 2020.
Businesses will be encouraged not to give back one and two cent coins as change since the coins are being removed from circulation.
The rounding rules will be used for settlement of all cash transactions once the exact payment is not made.
Only cash transactions require rounding. The rules indicate that when the total transaction value ends in x cents and payment is by cash rounding should be done up or down to the nearest five cent increment as follows:
The rounding system will only affect cash transactions.
Rounding will not be applied to non-cash payments such as cheques, debit and credit cards. Payments made using these non-cash methods do not need to be rounded, because they are settled electronically to the exact amount.
However all transactions for which EC cash will be given back as change or for settlement require rounding, such as the exchange of foreign currency, or the use of third party cheques.
Only the total in a cash transaction should be subject to rounding. The price of individual items, as well as any duties, fees or taxes should be calculated in their exact amount prior to rounding.
No. The price for individual items, as well as duties, fees or taxes should be calculated as usual in their exact amount prior to rounding.
The rounding rules will be adopted into legislation by all ECCU member governments for cash transactions. Businesses/retailers are therefore expected to round the total (or the amount owed) of any cash transaction in the prescribed manner from 1st July 2015.
If a refund is paid out in cash, businesses are expected to round the total in accordance with the rounding guidelines. The same applies to the balance remaining/owed where third party cheques are used to effect payments.
No. If you have the exact amount in cash, your total bill will not be rounded. Although 1 and 2 cent coins will no longer be issued, they will remain legal tender up to 30 June 2020 and thus can be used for purchasing goods and services or exchanged at financial institutions until then.
The eight ECCB member countries (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis) have established a regional market for Government Securities, with the assistance of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
The regional market allows all member governments to issue their securities throughout the member countries and beyond, allowing residents and non-residents to buy and sell the securities of their choice. This initiative will enhance the investment options available to investors by enabling investment opportunities beyond the domestic/home market, incorporating the regional market as well.
Government securities are financial instruments including treasury bills, notes and bonds that are issued by a sovereign and sold to the public. Backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing Government, these instruments are usually considered safe investments.
Treasury Bills are short-term instruments issued with a term of one year or less. They are sold at a discount from face value (par) and do not pay interest before maturity. The difference between the purchase price of the bill and the amount that is paid at maturity (par), or when the bill is sold prior to maturity, is the interest earned on the bill.
Treasury Notes and Bonds bear a stated interest rate, and the owner receives periodic, typically semi-annual income. Treasury notes have a term of more than one year but less than ten. Treasury bonds are long-term instruments issued with a term of more than 10 years.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank acts as Fiscal Agent to Governments. In this role, the ECCB assists the Governments by facilitating the operations of the RGSM, serving as secretariat to the RDCC and providing advice to the Governments.
An intermediary is a person or organisation, which provides services related to financial securities to investors such as a broker, dealer or custodian. These services include facilitating trading on behalf of investors and providing investment advice. Intermediaries dealing in securities must be licenced by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC).
When a government brings a new issue of securities (treasury bills, notes and bonds) to the market for the first time it does so through the primary market. Government securities issued on the regional market are sold via the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) Ltd.
Treasury Bills are sold on the regional market through a single price auction where the yield/price of the security is determined by competitive bidding by investors. Each investor must submit a bid specifying a yield or price for a specified quantity of securities. Those bids that fall within the range accepted by the auction will be awarded the security. Each successful investor pays the same price (or receives the same yield) for their securities. The risk associated with competitive bidding is that an investor might bid a yield that is too high and not obtain the quantity requested.
Treasury Notes and Bonds may be sold on the regional market through an auction (as explained above) or on a fixed-price subscription basis where the price is determined by the government before issuing the securities and the investor submits an application for only an amount. Bonds and notes may be sold at par (face value), discount or at premium, that is, a price above the face value. Member Governments usually sell their bonds at par value.
Announcements with information on securities to be issued on the regional market are provided to the market at least a week before the auction. These announcements provide the details on upcoming issues which include: type of instrument, Government of issue, issue date, auction or subscription date, maturity date and deadline date, time for receiving applications, names and addresses of licenced intermediaries participating in the government securities market.
Announcements are also provided in local newspapers, member governments' gazettes, ECCB and ECSE web sites. In addition, a week before the auction date, the government issuing the securities provides a press release with details on the specific issue. This announcement serves to reconfirm details provided to the market.
Persons wishing to purchase government securities issued on the regional market may do so by using the services of a broker/dealer that is licenced by the Securities Regulatory Commission and is a member of the ECSE. The names of intermediaries dealing in the government securities will be provided in announcements to the market. Intermediaries will submit applications for securities on behalf of their customers to the ECSE where the securities are sold. Investors should submit their applications for securities before the deadline specified in the announcements for the specific issue.
The minimum investment on the RGSM is $EC5,000.
The significant cost of producing and handling the coins coupled with their very low purchasing power and the public’s perceived inconvenience in using the coins are the main reasons for withdrawing the coins. Everyone will benefit from the withdrawal.
The ECCB will stop issuing one and two cent coins to commercial banks and the commercial banks will no longer issue these coins to the public. Rounding rules will be applied for the settlement of cash transactions. (Kindly refer to answers for questions 5-12)
Yes. The coins can still be used to purchase goods and services as they remain legal tender up to 30 June 2020. Alternately the coins can be deposited or exchanged for face value at any of the commercial banks within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) during the five year period ending 30 June 2020.
Businesses will be encouraged not to give back one and two cent coins as change since the coins are being removed from circulation.
The rounding rules will be used for settlement of all cash transactions once the exact payment is not made.
Only cash transactions require rounding. The rules indicate that when the total transaction value ends in x cents and payment is by cash rounding should be done up or down to the nearest five cent increment as follows:
The rounding system will only affect cash transactions.
Rounding will not be applied to non-cash payments such as cheques, debit and credit cards. Payments made using these non-cash methods do not need to be rounded, because they are settled electronically to the exact amount.
However all transactions for which EC cash will be given back as change or for settlement require rounding, such as the exchange of foreign currency, or the use of third party cheques.
Only the total in a cash transaction should be subject to rounding. The price of individual items, as well as any duties, fees or taxes should be calculated in their exact amount prior to rounding.
No. The price for individual items, as well as duties, fees or taxes should be calculated as usual in their exact amount prior to rounding.
The rounding rules will be adopted into legislation by all ECCU member governments for cash transactions. Businesses/retailers are therefore expected to round the total (or the amount owed) of any cash transaction in the prescribed manner from 1st July 2015.
If a refund is paid out in cash, businesses are expected to round the total in accordance with the rounding guidelines. The same applies to the balance remaining/owed where third party cheques are used to effect payments.
No. If you have the exact amount in cash, your total bill will not be rounded. Although 1 and 2 cent coins will no longer be issued, they will remain legal tender up to 30 June 2020 and thus can be used for purchasing goods and services or exchanged at financial institutions until then.
The eight ECCB member countries (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis) have established a regional market for Government Securities, with the assistance of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
The regional market allows all member governments to issue their securities throughout the member countries and beyond, allowing residents and non-residents to buy and sell the securities of their choice. This initiative will enhance the investment options available to investors by enabling investment opportunities beyond the domestic/home market, incorporating the regional market as well.
Government securities are financial instruments including treasury bills, notes and bonds that are issued by a sovereign and sold to the public. Backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing Government, these instruments are usually considered safe investments.
Treasury Bills are short-term instruments issued with a term of one year or less. They are sold at a discount from face value (par) and do not pay interest before maturity. The difference between the purchase price of the bill and the amount that is paid at maturity (par), or when the bill is sold prior to maturity, is the interest earned on the bill.
Treasury Notes and Bonds bear a stated interest rate, and the owner receives periodic, typically semi-annual income. Treasury notes have a term of more than one year but less than ten. Treasury bonds are long-term instruments issued with a term of more than 10 years.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank acts as Fiscal Agent to Governments. In this role, the ECCB assists the Governments by facilitating the operations of the RGSM, serving as secretariat to the RDCC and providing advice to the Governments.
An intermediary is a person or organisation, which provides services related to financial securities to investors such as a broker, dealer or custodian. These services include facilitating trading on behalf of investors and providing investment advice. Intermediaries dealing in securities must be licenced by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC).
When a government brings a new issue of securities (treasury bills, notes and bonds) to the market for the first time it does so through the primary market. Government securities issued on the regional market are sold via the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) Ltd.
Treasury Bills are sold on the regional market through a single price auction where the yield/price of the security is determined by competitive bidding by investors. Each investor must submit a bid specifying a yield or price for a specified quantity of securities. Those bids that fall within the range accepted by the auction will be awarded the security. Each successful investor pays the same price (or receives the same yield) for their securities. The risk associated with competitive bidding is that an investor might bid a yield that is too high and not obtain the quantity requested.
Treasury Notes and Bonds may be sold on the regional market through an auction (as explained above) or on a fixed-price subscription basis where the price is determined by the government before issuing the securities and the investor submits an application for only an amount. Bonds and notes may be sold at par (face value), discount or at premium, that is, a price above the face value. Member Governments usually sell their bonds at par value.
Announcements with information on securities to be issued on the regional market are provided to the market at least a week before the auction. These announcements provide the details on upcoming issues which include: type of instrument, Government of issue, issue date, auction or subscription date, maturity date and deadline date, time for receiving applications, names and addresses of licenced intermediaries participating in the government securities market.
Announcements are also provided in local newspapers, member governments' gazettes, ECCB and ECSE web sites. In addition, a week before the auction date, the government issuing the securities provides a press release with details on the specific issue. This announcement serves to reconfirm details provided to the market.
Persons wishing to purchase government securities issued on the regional market may do so by using the services of a broker/dealer that is licenced by the Securities Regulatory Commission and is a member of the ECSE. The names of intermediaries dealing in the government securities will be provided in announcements to the market. Intermediaries will submit applications for securities on behalf of their customers to the ECSE where the securities are sold. Investors should submit their applications for securities before the deadline specified in the announcements for the specific issue.
The minimum investment on the RGSM is $EC5,000.
