Conference highlights

IFIE and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) joined together on October 1-2, 2007 to hold their first joint investor education conference. Entitled “Investor Education Developments in the European Union and Around the Globe,” the conference was held at the original BME stock exchange facility in downtown Madrid.

More than 100 investor education professionals from around the globe attended the successful event, which featured speakers and panelists from more than two dozen nations. As a service to investor education professionals, much of the conference is available for review on the Web. Highlights of the IFIE/IOSCO investor education conference included:

• Keynote Address – Mary Schapiro, CEO, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (USA).


• Protecting Investors through Investor Education - moderated by John Gannon – Senior Vice President for Investor Education, FINRA (U.S.) and featuring panelists: Shin Akamine - Senior Manager, CSR Promotion, Tokyo Stock Exchange; Rafael Febres- Cordero - Managing Director for Fidelity International in Southern Europe and Latin America, Fidelity International (Spain): and Jonathan Chapman - Head of Financial Capability Department, Financial Services Authority (UK).


• Featured Speaker - Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Senior Managing Director for Europe and Asia Karsten Moller.


• Investor Education Elsewhere Around the Globe moderated by Roberta Wilton – President and CEO, CSI Global Education Inc. and featuring panelists: Norio Inomata - General Manager, Securities Education Division, Japan Securities Dealers Association; Kun Ho Hwang – Chairman, Korea Securities Dealers Association; Gerry Anderson – Deputy Executive Officer, Financial Services Board (South Africa); and Hesham Ibrahim – Chief of Chairman Technical Affairs, Capital Market Authority (Egypt).

For full details about the online information available from the IFIE/IOSCO investor education conference, click here.

Investor education news around the globe

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has created an Investor Protection and Education Fund and is inviting public comments on the draft regulations that will govern the Fund. The deadline for submitting comments is April 10, 2008. The new SEBI Fund will be used for the purpose of education programs through print and electronic media, organizing seminars and symposia and conducting research & development. The Fund also will be used for projects for investor education and protection including research activities and for financing such projects and coordinating with investors' associations registered with SEBI. You can visit the SEBI investor education Web site here.

A major force in Thai investor education may be looking for a new home if plans are completed for privatizing the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Reforms of the SET are being explored, including a possible shift to a for-profit corporation. According to the Bangkok Post: “The model is similar to that used by the Singapore Stock Exchange during its own demutualization … The responsibility for investor education programmes and marketing would … shift away from the SET if it was transformed into a for-profit company. SET expenses, which include investor education and marketing programmes, account for 92% of the exchange's annual revenues.” For more information about changes afoot at the SET, please click here.

JSDA is a hybrid association functioning both as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) and as a trade association in the Japanese securities market. Today JSDA comprises more than 500 members consisting of securities firms and other financial institutions operating securities business in Japan.

As a full-fledged SRO, JSDA extensively regulates market intermediaries. Its self-regulatory functions cover rule-making, enforcement, inspection, disciplinary actions, accreditation of sales representatives, and dispute mediation.

As a trade association, JSDA provides the industry’s voice to the government and other related parties, conducts and promotes investor education to expand the base of knowledgeable investors, and implements various researches and studies to generate policy recommendations for further activating the market.

In 2001, the Japanese securities industry formed the Project for Dissemination of Securities Knowledge to create a cross-market organization to promote investor education on a continuing basis over the long term. Comprising such securities-related organizations as JSDA, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and The Investment Trust Association, the project is carrying out a variety of investor education activities on a cooperative basis:

• Providing educational materials for middle and high school students.


• Offering a Stock Market Game for middle and high school students.


• Offering a website for school teachers and students (www.shokenquest.jp)


• Running internship programs for teachers at all school levels.


• Holding Financial and Economic Education Forum.


• Holding events on Securities Investment Day (October 4th).


• Holding Securities Investment Seminars as a spring event.

For more details about the JSDA’s investor education efforts, click here.