The fourth edition of World Investor Week, an initiative of IOSCO (the International Organization of Securities Commissions), was held from 5 to 11 October 2020. The aim of the week was to promote the education and protection of investors. The various initiatives taken by the supervisory authorities in these two critical areas were at the centre of attention.
As was the case in 2019, World Investor Week 2020 focused on raising awareness of the risks and challenges posed by the increasing digitalization of the financial markets. Other topics, such as digital learning, online education and the basic principles of investment, were also featured.
As vice-chair of IOSCO and member of the IOSCO committee on retail investors, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) once again supported this initiative. The FSMA is currently conducting an important campaign to raise awareness of investment fraud perpetrated online via social media. After a first wave of the campaign that targeted pensioners, the FSMA is now placing the emphasis on the younger generations. In addition to publishing warnings on the topic, the FSMA has also completely redesigned the section of its website devoted to a discussion of fraud. The section now offers consumers the possibility of checking, via a quick and simple test, whether an investment offer is fraudulent.
Additional information on World Investor Week is available on the website www.worldinvestorweek.org.