120 Global Investor Education Leaders Gather In Washington, D.C. To Boost Financial Capability Around The World

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Forum for Investor Education (IFIE) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today opened their sixth joint investor education conference in Washington, D.C, focusing on how new theories and research can be applied to strengthen investor education programmes around the world. Concluding Friday, the IFIE/IOSCO conference is hosted and co-sponsored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

A total of 120 attendees from more than two dozen nations will attend the two-and-a-half-day-long event.

With the theme of "Apply Theory To Action: Implementing Financial Capability/Investor Education Best Practices & Lessons Learned," the event marks the growing maturity of the investor education space, drawing on how new theories and research can be applied to strengthen the best practices that have been developed over the last decade.   The conference was formally opened at 9 a.m. with an address from IFIE Chair and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) President and CEO Susan Wolburgh Jenah.

The full agenda of the conference, including panels, skills workshops and keynote speakers, may be viewed at http://bit.ly/2014IFIEConference

IFIE Chair and IIROC CEO Susan Wolburgh Jenah said: "IFIE has worked with IOSCO since 2007 to bring the best in investor education programmes, practices, and expertise to a global audience.  There is a strong and growing appetite for information to educate and give investors the tools they need to achieve their financial goals. We look forward to continuing to work together to help meet that demand."

IOSCO Secretary General David Wright said: "IOSCO´s new Committee on Retail investors is a response to the growing demand from securities regulators around the world to advance the critically important areas of investor education and protection. This work is taking on a new urgency as securities markets are now becoming much more important for financing the global economy. This conference promises to provide another excellent avenue for our members to share the latest practical insights, best practices and cutting-edge research on investor education and financial literacy. Collectively, we must work to strengthen the demand side of financial markets. The ongoing IFIE-IOSCO relationship is a very good example of effective practical cooperation and networking to this end."

Richard Ketchum, IFIE-IOSCO 2014 Global Investor Education Conference Host Committee Chair; and FINRA Chairman and CEO, said: "These types of evens demonstrate our shared commitment to building financial capability and investor education programmes in all of our countries as well as our shared interest in learning from one another."

IFIE/IOSCO 2014 Conference Programme Committee Chair Tom Hamza, President of the Investor Education Fund in Canada, said: "This will be an important opportunity for financial and investor education leaders to come together to discuss how to collaborate, learn from other fields, and continue to innovate in our relatively young field.  We are excited to have such an exceptional field of speakers and leaders to learn from."

Confirmed conference speakers, panelists and other presenters include (in alphabetical order):

• David Wright, Secretary General, IOSCO;
• Richard Ketchum, Chairman and CEO, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), US;
• Susan Wolburgh Jenah, CEO, Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC);
• Bernard Delbecque, Director of Economics and Research, European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA);
• Tom Hamza, President, Investor Education Fund (IEF), Canada, and chair, IFIE/IOSCO 2014 Conference Programme Committee;
• Michael Herndon, Consumer Outreach Officer, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), US;
• Attila Koksal, Chairman, Turkish Capital Markets Association (TCMA);
• Ana Claudia Leoni, Head of Education, Associação Brasileira das Entidades dos Mercados Financeiro e de Capitais (ANBIMA), Brazil;
• Shri S. Raman, Whole Time Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI);
• Lori Schock, Director, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, SEC, US;
• Jean-Paul Servais, Chairman, Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Belgium;
• Robert Stammers, Director of Investor Education, CFA Institute, US;
• Jose Alexandre Vasco, Head of the Education and Investor Assistance Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, Brazil (CVM); and
• Gerri Walsh, President, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Senior Vice President, FINRA Office of Investor Education, US

A full listing of speakers and presenters is available at www.ifie.org/2014Speakers

IFIE and IOSCO held their first joint conference in Madrid in 2007. The second joint conference took place in Washington, D.C., in 2009 and the third took place November 2010 in Cairo, Egypt.  IFIE and IOSCO held their fourth major conference in May 2012 in Seoul, South Korea, and the fifth such event in Toronto, Canada in June 2013.

ABOUT THE GROUPS

The International Forum for Investor Education (http://www.ifie.org) is a global membership organization committed to strengthening resources and standards for financial capability and investor education within and across jurisdictions through: global conferences; webinars; surveys; a resource clearinghouse; and development and distribution of best practices, implementation strategies and leadership support. IFIE also has a global regional Chapter network of members in Asia (IFIE/AFIE), MENA (IFIE/MENA) and the Americas (IFIE/Americas) that work together to develop and implement approaches to regional challenges in financial education, financial capability and investor education.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (http://www.iosco.org), founded in 1983, is the global standard setting body for securities regulation and is working with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board on a number of key mandates for the regulatory reform of global financial markets. IOSCO´s standards are the global benchmark for securities regulation.  The organization's membership regulates more than 95 percent of the world's securities markets in over 115 jurisdictions. IOSCO members have resolved:

• to cooperate in developing, implementing and promoting adherence to internationally recognised 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.

SOCIAL MEDIA:  Live updates and key takeaways from the conference are available on a real-time basis on Twitter, courtesy of the CFA Institute.  Be sure to follow the CFA Institute's Investor Education Twitter handle (@CFAinvestored) and the hashtag #ifieiosco for live-tweet updates from the 2014 IFIE/IOSCO event.

SOURCE International Forum for Investor Education (IFIE) and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)