From left to right: David Jiménez-Blanco, Raquel Muros y Tajinder Sighn
The Spanish Stock Exchange opened the session today with a Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy. The event, held at the Madrid Stock Exchange, is part of the Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy initiative, promoted by IOSCO and WFE as part of World Investor Week, in which more than 60 stock exchanges around the world are participating throughout the week. BME thus joins the celebration of Financial Literacy Day and the ‘Finance for All’ initiative, promoted by the CNMV, the Bank of Spain and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.
The ringing of the bell was performed by Raquel Muros, General Coordinator of Social Policies of the Madrid City Council, and Tajinder Sighn, Secretary General of IOSCO, who were accompanied by David Jiménez-Blanco, Vice President of BME.
Raquel Muros stressed that ‘financial education is a powerful tool that strengthens people and encourages their autonomy. The Madrid City Council contributes to the dissemination of financial education with the municipal programme Madrid, un libro abierto’ (Madrid, an open book).
For Tajinder Sighn, ‘one of IOSCO's missions is investor protection, because financial markets need confidence to function well, and financial education is fundamental to this, as we remember every year with this global event that is held in stock exchanges around the world’.
‘Promoting financial education is part of BME's strategy, because we know that for financial markets to fulfil their mission it is important to have well-educated and well-informed investors. In the first nine months of the year Instituto BME has delivered 181 courses and 935 online training sessions, while the 100% online education platform Braindex has had 18,000 unique visitors,’ said David Jiménez-Blanco.
The day continued with a meeting between Enrique Castellanos, director of Instituto BME, and Esther del Brío, author of the book ‘El bosque de la economía’, with stories aimed at children between 6 and 10 years old that teach basic concepts related to economics.
This will be followed by three webinars focusing on digitalisation and its impact on financial education: ‘Educational experiences in finance using digital media’, ‘Digital tools for stock market investment’ and ‘Identifying risks in digital investment management’ (more information on this link).
With these initiatives, aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, BME seeks to raise awareness of the importance of promoting financial literacy among the population, to which it has been firmly committed since its inception.
Promoting financial literacy is part of SIX's sustainability strategy. By promoting financial education and literacy, we contribute to long-term economic stability and financial equity in society.
You can download the photos of the event at the following link.