Bursa Malaysia aims to educate investors on frauds, scams

by BERNAMA / pic by BLOOMBERG

BURSA Malaysia Bhd’s education programmes aim to increase investor awareness of financial frauds and scams, which are on the rise, as financial products become more complex.

“We believe an educated investor is less likely to fall prey to financial frauds,” chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said during the opening session of an investor education webinar on informed investing.

In a statement, Bursa Malaysia said Muhamad Umar sounded the exchange’s ceremonial gong in front of the session’s virtual audience to mark the Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy ceremony held on Wednesday in conjunction with World Investor Week 2020.

Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy is a global initiative by the World Federation of Exchanges to promote financial literacy and boost financial inclusion.

This year, nearly 40 exchanges have come together in support of this cause.

According to Muhamad Umar, Bursa Malaysia has a strong commitment towards advocating financial literacy in its marketplace and the wider community.

“It is an important agenda, not just for encouraging retail participation but also to enhance investor protection through education,” he said.

Bursa Malaysia said over the last 12 months, it had accelerated the use of digital technology to effectively reach large segments of the population and promote financial inclusion.

In June, it launched Bursa Academy, a comprehensive one-stop e-learning platform targeted at retail investors across the securities, derivatives and Islamic capital markets.

Since its launch, Bursa Academy has continued to grow in traction, registering close to 93,000 users with more than 217,000 page views as at end-September 2020.

Through, its 168 digital learning webinars conducted at the onset of the pandemic, the exchange has reached out to 51,943 investors.