By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) through its investor awareness and protection programme has been interacting with audiences to educate them on risk and scope of capital market, insurance and non-banking financial sectors.
During these interaction sessions SECP would create awareness how to protect the public from financial frauds and scams.
During FY 2018-19, the Investor Education Department signed seven MoUs with private and public sector universities and institutions.
In accordance with the MoUs, the SECP conducted 110 interactive awareness seminars in multiple cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Swabi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Multan, said an annual report issued by the SECP.
These events included classroom awareness sessions, mentoring for women entrepreneurs and start-ups, incentives-based stock trading competitions between groups of university students etc. Awareness sessions were also conducted for far-flung areas such as Skardu, Khuzdar and Gilgit through video conferencing.
In addition, advance level workshops were conducted for professional bodies, business community and budding entrepreneurs including Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), National Incubation Centre (NIC) Islamabad, Women on Board- Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), TiE Islamabad Chapter, Rotary Metropolitan Club, session on “Fintech” in collaboration with Ignite, S&P Global in collaboration with Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan (IFMP).
Major areas covered through these events were Code of Corporate Governance, Companies Act 2017 and Company Incorporation, risks and fraud prevention tips related to capital market, futures market, insurance, mutual funds, Modarabas etc. Over 4,000 participants benefited from attending these sessions during FY 2018-19.
As a premiere digital initiative, SECP developed a series of short videos for educating public through its investor education portal and social media pages, the report added.
The videos have been prepared to provide basic information about company incorporation, anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism AML/CFT, investment risks, how to protect oneself from Ponzi Schemes, financial and market frauds and interest rate risks, etc.
This year SECP also launched a book titled “Savings and Capital Markets” to educate new investors, students and the public in general. The digital version of the book was also placed at SECP’s website and investor education portal thereby putting it in the reach of the common man at no cost.
Additionally, the 8181 SMS service was used efficiently to send more meaningful, educational and regular public awareness messages focusing on better personal financial planning and prevention from financial scams and frauds.
The SECP’s social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were also improved in terms of visual and intellectual content and information sharing for optimal investor awareness impact.
The SECP’s 4th Inter-University Stock Trading Competition held from October to December of 2018. Total 41 universities registered for the competition. The winning universities from the Islamabad capital territory were Quaid-i-Azam University, Virtual University Islamabad and the National University of Modern Languages.
From the Punjab region, the winning institutions were the University of Lahore, LUMS and the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore.
Sindh region’s winning universities were KASBIT Karachi, University of Karachi and Karachi School for Business and Leadership and the winners from the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region were COMSATS and GIK.
The competition provided participants with the opportunity to learn about trading, applying sophisticated money management techniques and taking calculated risks in a simulated environment.
