 | 2007 | 2006 |
Overall Score: | 62 | 44 |
Regional Ranking: | 3rd | 6th |
With 2007’s most marked improvement (18 points), Trinidad & Tobago jumped forward three places to claim 3rd place in the region. While many Scorecard criteria are not adequately addressed via legislation, what regulations are in place in appear to be flexible and often draw on Canadian or Commonwealth laws generally favorable to the industry. Should reforms be enacted specific to fund formation/ operation and corporate governance, T&T’s VC/PE business environment could well rival the region’s current leaders.
Strengths: T&T improved scores from 2005 in several key areas. Greater appreciation of Trinidad’s tax incentive structure resulted in an improved score for tax treatment, while reconsideration of the Companies Act of 1995 upped its score for protection of minority shareholder rights. Institutional investors are fairly unrestricted, provided firms and funds in questions are registered. T&T has no reserve requirements, exchange controls or registration requirements for private companies. By Caribbean standards T&T’s financial sector is comparatively well developed. In the absence of stronger regulations, corporate governance practices are fairly good, and while the legal framework for fund formation and operation is inappropriate, local managers have found ways to operate successfully.
Challenges: Corruption earned T&T its lowest score, while its corporate governance score was reduced from 2005, due to inertia in reforming the Companies Act of 1995 – recognized by authorities as incomplete. Scores for strength of judicial system were also reduced, with substantial delays common in the legal process.
| Score | Change |
| Overall score | 62 | ▲ 18 |
| Laws on VC/PE fund formation and operation | 2 | |
| Tax treatment of VC/PE funds & investments | 3 | ▲ 1 |
| Protection of minority shareholder rights | 3 | ▲ 2 |
| Restrictions on institutional investors investing in VC/PE | 2 | ▲ 1 |
| Protection of intellectual property rights | 3 | |
| Bankruptcy procedures/creditors' rights/partner liability | 2 | |
| Capital markets development and feasibility of exits | 2 | ▲ 1 |
| Registration/reserve requirements on inward investments | 4 | ▲ 1 |
| Corporate governance requirements | 2 | ▲ 1 |
| Strength of the judicial system | 2 | ▼ 1 |
| Perceived corruption | 1 | |
| Quality of local accounting/use of international standards | 4 | |
Indicators are scored from 0-4 where 4=best score.
Overall score ranges from 0-100 where 100=best score. |
