OFFICIAL LAUNCH: Bahamian crowdfunding platform and stock exchange to go live early next month – EyeWitness News

NASSAU, BAHAMAS Bahamian crowdfunding platform and stock exchange ArawakX, which is licensed and regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, is set to go live early next month.

DArcy Rahming Jr, chief technology officer and spokesperson for ArawakX, noted: The primary purpose of ArawakX is to move Bahamians from consumers to owners. We have targeted early-stage international startups that are resident in The Bahamas and our rules are written for Bahamians to participate through share ownership.

ArawakX itself will be a publicly-traded company, so Bahamians of all financial levels will finally be able to own their own capital markets.

Initial listings on ArawakX will feature companies in the health, high tech, tourist attraction and agribusiness industries.

We are changing the reality that Bahamians can only get jobs from these companies but can actually own a portion of them. When the company grows, so will the potential wealth of the owner/investor, said Rahming.

He further noted that anyone will be able to participate even with amounts as low as $25.

This is made possible through financial technology (fintech) and regulations. Additionally, with just our initial launch, we will begin to see diversification in the economy and the potential creation of hundreds of jobs, said Rahming.

He added: Our regulations are very robust and provide strong protections for Bahamian owners.

Rahming further explained that the licensing procedure involved over four years of scrutiny, hundreds of pages of applications, hundreds of thousands of dollars of fees and solvency requirements and proof that the ArawakX company is viable and can operate the exchange.

We have welcomed the challenge because it has made us a world-class organization from the onset. We are literally completing requirements in 80 days that it has taken other world-class exchanges 500 days, said Rahming.

We are able to do this because of our dynamic team of national veterans, international advisors and a cadre of highly educated young Bahamian millennials, some of whom decided to come back after being educated abroad to give back while building the country.

ArawakX is under the leadership of Chairman and CEO DArcy Rahming Sr, who was an early pioneer and manager in the $100 million GLOBEX exchange a joint venture between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the French MATIF.

To round out their executive management team, ArawakX has appointed: Winston Rolle, businessman and former CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, as chief of equities; Leroy Archer, former CEO of Heineken Bahamas, as chief of investor relations; and Kenneth Donathon, former CEO of RND, as chief community officer.

Rahming said:These successful and proven Bahamian executives should give confidence to the Bahamian and international community. Additionally, our rules are being designed and vetted by some of the worlds foremost authorities on exchanges. We have literally looked at dozens of exchange rules and adopted the best ones to suit Bahamians so that they can grow their wealth.

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OFFICIAL LAUNCH: Bahamian crowdfunding platform and stock exchange to go live early next month - EyeWitness News