The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (the Commission) has become a Signatory ‘B’ to the **Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and Exchange of Information (the MMOU)** established by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The announcement was made at the 2009 IOSCO Annual General Meeting being held in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hillary Deveaux, Executive Director of the Commission, is in Tel Aviv attending the AGM which runs from June 8 through to June 11.

The provisions of the draft Securities Industry Act and Regulations released for public consultation on May 11, 2009 (until June 24, 2009) reflect conditions necessary to enable the Commission to become a Signatory ‘A’ to the MMOU. The Commission therefore anticipates that once the draft securities legislation is brought into force the Commission’s change in status to a Signatory ‘A’ would be imminent.

IOSCO, the international standard setting body for Securities Commissions, in October 2002 adopted the MMOU as the model for international co-operation. The MMOU establishes standards to be applied by IOSCO Members when making or responding to requests for information. At the April 2005 Annual Conference of IOSCO a timetable was agreed for all Member regulators not already signatories to the MMOU to meet the standards of the model by January 1, 2010.