Monitor Your Investments - Securities Commission of The Bahamas

How frequently you decide to monitor your investments should be based on your goals and investments. Remember, expect trading prices to go up and down, and investing is not a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme –the true rewards usually come over time.
It’s not enough to simply check an investment’s performance. You should compare the performance against a group of similar investments over the same period of time. If you have chosen a financial advisor to assist you with your investment decisions, you should also compare the fees and commissions that you’re paying to what other investment professionals charge.

It is in your best interest to check your investments regularly to ensure that there are no irregularities with your account. Every time you buy or sell an investment, you should receive a confirmation slip from your broker, who is the person that buys and sells securities for you. Make sure each trade was completed in accordance with your instructions. Make sure the buying or selling price was what your broker quoted. And make sure the commissions or fees are what your broker said they would be.
Watch out for unauthorised trades in your account. If you get a confirmation slip for a transaction that you didn’t approve beforehand, call your broker. It may have been a mistake. If you have any concerns, call the Securities Commission.

We Are Here for You

In The Bahamas, the Securities Commission oversees the capital markets where people buy and sell debt securities with a maturity of a year or longer (such as bonds) and equities (such as common and preference shares). The Securities Commission also oversees persons conducting securities business, like brokers and investment advisors.

We are here to protect investors in the capital markets from unfair, improper and fraudulent practices and to ensure the capital markets are fair and efficient. We protect investors by reviewing and approving/not approving applications from persons wishing to conduct securities business, monitoring the conduct of persons doing securities business, launching investigations and enforcement activity against persons suspected of breaking securities laws, and by providing information and education about investing.

It’s important to remember that investing, by its very nature, always involves risk. The Commission cannot protect you or your investments from that. Investors should know how much risk they are comfortable with and make investment decisions accordingly.
Investor complaints are very important to the Securities Commission. You may think you are the only one experiencing a problem, but you may not be alone. Sometimes it takes only one investor’s complaint to trigger an investigation that results in shutting down something that may have resulted in unfortunate consequences for you and many others.

If you have a complaint, visit our submit a complaint webpage.