SEC, CSE ring market opening bell for financial literacy
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) joined stock exchanges from around the world to ‘Ring the market opening bell for Financial Literacy’, as part of the seventh annual World Investor Week (WIW) in 2023, launched by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
The global campaign was launched to raise awareness of the importance of investor education and investor protection. Global stock exchanges worldwide have joined the “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy initiative in 2023”, which is an initiative pioneered by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) to bring stakeholders together for a call to action on improving financial literacy.
CSE CEO, Rajeeva Bandaranaike said, “Today is an important event where we join our peer stock exchanges globally to ring the bell as a call for action, to bring attention to investors and to focus on issues such as investor protection, investor education and financial literacy.
In this connection, we would like to appreciate the partnership and the support that the SEC and the stock brokering firms have given to CSE, for a long period in the area of investor education.
The importance of financial literacy has already become a critical factor, due to the lack of knowledge and the lack of understanding in investing in equity products in terms of understanding the principle of risk and return and how to manage and minimize risk.
Other emerging and frontier markets are also facing this issue, thus, there is a global effort to raise the levels of financial literacy.
Thus, it is evident that an increased focus on improving financial literacy has become very important and we are fortunate that we have the support from all the parties for those who represent the market, regulator, and stock broking firms,” he added.
Bandaranaike also pledged to continue to work with the industry to keep investing resources into improving financial literacy. SEC Chairman, Faizal Salieh stated, “Financial literacy is an essential building block for financial inclusion. It is the key that unlocks financial independence and economic well-being.
It enables people to make informed investment decisions, detect and protect themselves from frauds and scams, and gives them the trust and confidence they need to participate actively in the capital markets.” “Protecting the interest of investors and building their trust and confidence in the Capital Markets is a key strategic priority of the SEC and we strive to ensure that both current and potential investors are taken through the path of learning from basic financial literacy to financial competency.”
Salih commended the efforts taken by the CSE to improve financial literacy in the country and noted that “Investor education is a huge task, and it requires long-term commitment. We know we cannot do it alone.”
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