Bahrain Bourse Participates in IOSCO’s 2020 World Investor Week to Promote Investor Education

Bahrain Bourse (BHB), an affiliate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), has announced its participation in the fourth annual World Investor Week (“WIW”) from 5 to 11 October 2020.

As part of its participation in the WIW, Bahrain Bourse virtually rang the market-opening bell for financial literacy to join over 35 other global exchanges to mark the occasion over a week of bell-ringing activities. The bell-ringing event, which is a global initiative by the IOSCO and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), aims to bring together stakeholders to celebrate the progress that has been made and looking to partner on the road ahead.

Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the CEO of Bahrain Bourse commented, “We are pleased to take part in the World Investor Week for the third consecutive year.  BHB’s participation in the WIW demonstrates its ongoing commitment towards enhancing market literacy and investor awareness in collaboration with local, regional, and international organizations.”

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and given the restrictions imposed on events, Bahrain Bourse’s activities focused on the production of educational content for its various programs, investor awareness content, and offered a focused virtual seminar session on the fundamentals of saving and investing open to the public,” Shaikh Khalifa added.

Over the years, Bahrain Bourse has expanded its awareness programs to reach out to a greater number of beneficiaries, from students to professionals, through TradeQuest, the Smart Investor Program, and the Investment Academy. The TradeQuest program has been expanded to serve more than 200 students per annum across 21 educational institutions, encompassing private and public schools as well as universities.  While the Smart Investor program has benefitted more than 15,000 students since its launch. As for the Investment Academy, more than 2,000 beneficiaries were trained since the launch of the academy, including more than 400 professional certifications awarded.

Ashley Alder, Chair of the IOSCO Board and the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, said, “I welcome this fourth edition of World Investor Week, which will be held while all countries continue to respond to Covid-19 pandemic.  On behalf of the IOSCO Board, I would like to extend my appreciation to all IOSCO members and their stakeholders who have supported this international initiative to raise awareness of investor education and protection, particularly in such challenging times.”

The WIW is a week-long global campaign promoted by IOSCO to raise awareness of the importance of investor education and protection and highlight the various initiatives of securities regulators in these two critical areas. The campaign also has the support of international organizations such as the G20. IOSCO members on six continents offered a range of activities, including investor-focused communications and services, contests to increase awareness of investor education initiatives, workshops and conferences and local/national educational campaigns. Many members leverage the event to organize further investor education activities throughout the year.