Exchanges round the world ‘Ring the Bell’ all week for financial literacy

London, Monday 30 September 2019 – Exchanges and CCPs around the world have united to promote financial literacy and boost financial inclusion, ringing the bell in multiple countries on multiple days all week during World Investor Week (“WIW”) 2019.

The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, has partnered with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) to set up the inaugural ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ initiative as part of WIW 2019, which runs from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October 2019. 

WIW is a week-long, global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection, and to highlight the various initiatives of securities regulators in these two critical areas. 

This year, IOSCO and the WFE are working in partnership on a new initiative to support WIW called ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’. The WFE invited its members to hold an opening or closing bell ringing ceremony, or a workshop, during WIW 2019 to promote the work they do in their own jurisdictions to improve financial education and literacy. Thirty-nine exchanges and CCPs are ringing the bell from Colombo to Chicago. The events are also an opportunity to bring stakeholders together to celebrate the progress that has been made by each participating exchange or CCP, and many of the events will be supported by the production of educational content, investor awareness campaigns, and seminars on financial literacy. 

Nandini Sukumar, Chief Executive Officer, WFE said: “Financial literacy is the foundation of healthy, thriving, and trusted capital markets. Successful investment and the opportunity to generate growth through markets starts with financial literacy. Every single one of our 70 members - market infrastructures - spend time, energy, effort and resource on financial literacy.”

Jose Alexandre Vasco, Chair, IOSCO Committee on Retail Investors, added: “We welcome the launch of the ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ event. Thanks to the WFE’s leadership, exchanges and market infrastructure providers will be working together with regulators to promote financial literacy during WIW 2019. The challenges remain enormous: the lack of financial skills may lead to serious consequences on long-term financial well-being. Bearing that in mind, the IOSCO campaign serves as a platform for collaboration on a global scale on investor protection and education. The ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ event represents a very important step; not only will it pave the way for new editions, but also strengthen ties among exchanges and regulators, both locally and globally.”  

The WFE members taking part this year are:  

Name of Exchange / CCP (alphabetical order)	Date of Event	Opening or Closing Bell
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
Athens Exchange	Thursday 3rd October	Closing Bell
B3 - Brasil Bolsa Balcão	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Bahrain Bourse	Thursday 3rd October	Opening Bell
Bermuda Stock Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
BME	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
Borsa İstanbul	Wednesday 2nd October	Opening Bell
Bursa Malaysia	Wednesday 2nd October	Opening Bell
CBOE	Tuesday 1st October	Closing Bell
Colombo Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Opening Bell
Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange PLC	Friday 4th October	Closing Bell
Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Dubai Financial Market	Sunday 29th September	Opening Bell
Hochiminh Stock Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Johannesburg Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Opening Bell
Kazakhstan Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Opening Bell
Korea Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Luxembourg Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Opening Bell
Malta Stock Exchange plc	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Moscow Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
National Stock Exchange of India	Tuesday 1st October	Closing Bell
NZX Ltd	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Palestine Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Qatar Stock Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
Santiago Stock Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul)	Sunday 29th October	Opening Bell
Shanghai Stock Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Shenzhen Stock Exchange	Monday 23rd September	Closing Bell
Singapore Exchange	Friday 4th October	Opening Bell
SIX Swiss Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Taipei Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell
Taiwan Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Closing Bell
The Egyptian Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
The Nigerian Stock Exchange	Friday 4th October	Closing Bell
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)	Monday 30th September	Financial literacy event
The Philippine Stock Exchange	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
The Stock Exchange of Thailand	Monday 30th September	Opening Bell
Tunis Stock Exchange	Tuesday 1st October	Opening Bell

---