A dividend is a periodic income payment made to shareholders from the profits of a company. Dividends are not fixed or guaranteed.

• Stocks give holders part ownership in a company, whereas bonds represent a loan to the company. Shareholders are owners and bondholders are lenders; 
• Shareholders can have a say in the company’s operations. Bondholders cannot; 
• Shareholders can collect dividends based on the company’s profits and the number of shares they own in it. Bondholders collect interest payments on specific dates until the original amount loaned is repaid.

Securities are financial products or instruments issued by companies and governments to raise capital. They are generally classified into two main types. Equity (stocks/shares) represents ownership in a company with specific rights, including the ability to share in the profits. Owners of equity may receive periodic income payments from the profits of the company. These are called dividends. The second type of security is a bond, sometimes referred to as a debenture. A bond is a loan that investors make to an issuing company or government. The borrowers (issuers) get the cash they need while the lenders (investors) earn a designated interest on the amount loaned (principal). At some specified point in the future, the issuer must pay back the principal. 

Corporate securities (stocks and bonds) as well as government securities (bonds, notes and treasury bills) are among the financial products traded on the ECSE.

Enterprises in the ECCU need new sources of capital in order to compete effectively in the growing global marketplace. Capital allows them to buy new equipment, increase productivity and offer better services. The ECSE provides a market for buying and selling a variety of securities. The ECSE gives entrepreneurs a powerful new vehicle for raising capital to support modernisation, expansion, new employment opportunities and economic growth 

The ECSE provides a primary and a secondary market for trading securities. In primary markets, an issuer – a public company or a government sells its securities for the first time to investors to raise capital to support its operations. The funds generated from this sale of securities go to the issuer. 

In secondary markets, investors buy and sell securities among themselves. The proceeds from this trading activity go to the investors, not to the original issuer.

The ECSE provides investors a new way to make money on their investments and participate in the expansion of local enterprises at the same time. It offers an opportunity for investing in and profiting from the growth and development of the economy of the Eastern Caribbean. 

A securities market is like any other market where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods and services. The buyers (investors) are individuals and institutions who have money (capital) to invest. The sellers are corporations, governments and other investors. The products they sell are securities, including stocks, bonds and other financial products, which are exchanged for money. 

The Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) is an electronic securities exchange that operates regional securities markets, in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.   The ECSE is licensed by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC) under the Securities Act, uniform regional legislation governing securities market activities in the ECCU.  The ECSE facilitates the buying and selling of financial products, including corporate stocks and bonds and government securities. It is the first fully electronic regional securities market in the Western Hemisphere.