Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica are working on a project that will harmonize – though not merge – their stock markets.
Other countries, including Nicaragua, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, have also shown interest in taking part. The new scheme is expected to come on stream within two or three years.
Roberto Brenes, executive vice-president of the Panama Stock Exchange, said the aim is to integrate negotiations and the information available on traders' screens, but the markets themselves would not be merged.
The 15th Seminar of the Association of Securities Exchanges of Central America and the Caribbean will take place in Panama August 28-29.
Officials from securities markets throughout the region will discuss advances in the project of integrating local markets into a single regional market and the opportunities that this represents.
Other topics include opportunities in the sale of state assets and strategies to attract new issuers.
Securities regulators in the Central America-Caribbean region are putting their heads together to see how they can stimulate investment through their public markets.
The Superintendent of Securities from the Dominican Republic, Haivanjoe NG Cortiñas, presented a study which included a compendium of opinions from the securities regulators in Central America and the Dominican Republic about ways to develop their respective markets.
The securities markets of El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica have signed a letter of intent to advance the process of creating the Alliance of Central American Markets (Alianza de Mercados Centroamericanos, AMERCA).
"The vision is to lower transaction costs for the issuer and the investor and to be a communication channel, where they can invest in the three markets at the same time," said Rolando Duarte, president of the El Salvador Securities Exchange.
Costa Rican investors are steering clear of stock markets in other Central American countries where they say interest rates are too low and assets lack liquidity.
Yet the markets in El Salvador and Panama have attractive features. Corporate debt dominates in Panama, while in El Salvador investors can acquire stocks in companies that are quoted on Wall Street.