Focus On: IFIE Code of Practice

Since investor education is largely unregulated on a national and international basis, one of the key tasks of the International Forum for Investor Education is to develop and promulgate standards and best practices for investor education. IFIE's Code of Practice has been developed by practitioners as a form of guidance or "best practices" for organizations involved in providing investor education to the public. The IFIE Code of Practice is intended to serve as a global standard for investor education programs and will indicate that an organization endorsing this code is adhering to the highest standards of practice in its investor education programs. You can read all 10 points of the IFIE Code of Practice here.

Investor Education Around the Globe

The main objective of the Investor Education Area of the National Association of Investment Banks (ANBID-Brazil) is to disseminate knowledge of the mechanisms to be used in personal investments. The Area seeks to broaden the instruments for education and formation of the investor in Brazil. In addition, the ANBID initiative seeks to encourage the production of academic studies as a means of steadily improving the Brazilian capital markets. One of the chief initiatives of ANBID-Brazil is a financial education Web site.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has undertaken a review of policies relating to the unit trust industry. Generally, the Malaysian unit trust industry has sustained double-digit growth over the past decade and has the potential to grow even faster given the high domestic savings, favorable demographics and expanding labor force. The unit trust industry is well positioned to play a major role in the growth of the Malaysian capital market. The SC has identified a set of initiatives aimed at providing greater transparency to investors, reducing costs, expanding product choice, improving access, enhancing standards of investor protection and creating a more competitive environment. For more information, please click here.

IFIE Member Profile:

The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) was promoted by leading financial institutions at the behest of the Government of India and was incorporated in November 1992. On its recognition in April 1993 as a stock exchange under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956, NSE commenced operations in the Wholesale Debt Market (WDM). The Capital Market (Equities) commenced operations in November 1994 and operations in Derivatives segment started in June 2000. NSE's mission is setting the agenda for change in the securities markets in India. The standards set by NSE in terms of market practices and technology have become industry benchmarks and are being emulated by other market participants. The Exchange invites research proposals on issues that have a bearing on securities market in India are welcome. Research papers can be found here on various topics such as: market micro-structure and design; market efficiency; investor protection; and risk measurement and management.