The G20 Presidency and international organizations support IOSCO World Investor Week

Hamilton, Bermuda:  26 September 2018— International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today announced that various multilateral institutions have endorsed World Investor Week.  The announcement stated:

In addition to the Argentine G20 Presidency, various important multilateral institutions have endorsed the second annual World Investor Week (WIW), organized by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness of the importance of investor education and protection around the world. 

Support for this year´s WIW includes the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative, the International Forum for Investor Education, the IFRS Foundation, the Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd, the CFA Institute, and the International Network of Financial Services Ombudsman Schemes (INFO Network) have also pledged their support for WIW, further underscoring the importance of investor education and protection to global financial markets.

The collaboration of international organizations will complement the events, workshops, conferences and other activities that some 80 IOSCO member jurisdictions have organized for the week of 1 – 7 October, following the success of last year´s WIW. (The WIW 2017 Public Reportprovides an overview of the activities that took place worldwide in 2017).

The WIW offers the Argentine G20 Presidency an important platform for promoting the policies outlined in The G20 Policy Guide, Digitisation and informality: Harnessing digital financial inclusion for individuals and MSMEs [Micro Small and Medium Enterprises] in the informal economy. The recently issued policy guide seeks to facilitate financial inclusion of individuals and firms operating in the informal economy. 

Gabriel R. Bizama, Ministry of Treasury and Finance of Argentina, Director of Financial Inclusion, G20 Division, said: “The G20 Financial Inclusion Policy Guide comes at a very timely moment for helping policymakers and regulators  strengthen the delivery of financial education.”

He added: “Digitisation can create opportunities to develop financial literacy competencies, confidence and experience in finance. It can also open up opportunities to integrate the low income and financially excluded groups in the formal financial sector.”

Ashley Alder, Chair of the IOSCO Board and the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, said, “We are deeply appreciative of the strong support provided by the G20 and other international organizations for the IOSCO World Investor Week. This ongoing support underscores the role of the World Investor Week in effectively communicating key messages to market participants regarding investor education, investor protection and financial literacy, in addition to facilitating new initiatives among our members.”

The dedicated campaign website www.worldinvestorweek.org provides details on the various participating authorities and the international organizations supporting this effort.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

About IOSCO

1.      IOSCO is the leading international policy forum for securities regulators and is recognized as the global standard setter for securities regulation. The organization's membership regulates more than 95% of the world's securities markets in more than 115 jurisdictions and it continues to expand.

2.      The IOSCO Board is the governing and standard-setting body of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and is made up of 34 securities regulators. Mr. Ashley Alder, the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, is the Chair of the IOSCO Board. The members of the IOSCO Board are the securities regulatory authorities of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands (observer), Ontario, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, Quebec, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Chair of IOSCO´s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee are also observers.

3.      The Growth and Emerging Markets (GEM) Committee is the largest committee within IOSCO, representing close to 80 per cent of the IOSCO membership, including 11 of the G20 members. Mr. Ranjit Ajit Singh, Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia and Vice Chair of the IOSCO Board, is the Chair of the GEM Committee. The Committee brings members from growth and emerging markets together and communicates members’ views and facilitates their contribution across IOSCO and at other global regulatory discussions. The GEM Committee’s strategic priorities are focused, among others, on risks and vulnerabilities assessments, policy and development work affecting emerging markets, and regulatory capacity building.

4.      IOSCO aims through its permanent structures:

·         to cooperate in developing, implementing and promoting adherence to internationally recognized and consistent standards of regulation, oversight and enforcement in order to protect investors, maintain fair, efficient and transparent markets, and seek to address systemic risks;

·         to enhance investor protection and promote investor confidence in the integrity of securities markets, through strengthened information exchange and cooperation in enforcement against misconduct and in supervision of markets and market intermediaries; and

·         to exchange information at both global and regional levels on their respective experiences in order to assist the development of markets, strengthen market infrastructure and implement appropriate regulation.

5.      This media release also is available in other languages. Those translations have not been verified by the IOSCO General Secretariat and any formal reference should therefore be made to this original English-language version.

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