Ring The Bell for Financial Literacy: Investor resilience

1. Greetings to all dignitaries and everyone here this afternoon from the CSD Team.

2. Madam Chairperson, I request your indulgence to stand on the already observed protocols and to use the opportunity to also thank the organizers of this year’s Ring The Bell for Financial Literacy event for inviting us to give our Goodwill Message at this important programme.

3. Madam Chairperson, for two reasons, you may agree that the topic for this year’s celebration is not only timely but of utmost importance.

4. In light of the current challenging economic landscape, both on a global and national scale, investors face heightened exposure to growing economic pressure.

Consequently, they are contending with greater levels of risk in their investment choices than ever before. Therefore, addressing a topic of this nature could significantly benefit investors by equipping them with the essential knowledge required to effectively diversify their investment portfolios and mitigate the inherent risks associated with their investment decisions.

5. Moreover, this subject matter would enable investors to proactively prepare for life's uncertainties and mitigate the impact of adverse economic conditions, such as inflation, on their financial well-being.

6. Madam Chairperson, after reviewing the selected topics for this afternoon's panel discussion and attentively listening to the earlier speakers' presentations, it is clear that the event's subject has been thoroughly addressed. Therefore, I'd like to keep my remarks brief and not overshadow the contributions of our esteemed panelists.

7. But permit me to say that we are living in economic uncertainties, and the current challenging environment has indeed stretched and tested the resiliency of investors.

8. As the premier financial market infrastructure responsible for safeguarding issued securities and overseeing clearing and settlement operations in our nation's securities market, we are firmly committed to contributing to the enhancement of investor resilience within our market. Consequently, the key question becomes: How can we, as a financial market infrastructure, actively promote this year’s Ring The Bell for Financial Literacy agenda, with a specific emphasis on bolstering INVESTOR RESILIENCE?

9. Three notable considerations immediately arise product diversification, technological innovation, and harnessing the wealth of insights hidden within the terabytes of data under our stewardship to revolutionize transparency in the marketplace.

10. From the standpoint of the CSD as a Financial Market Infrastructure, our objective is to bolster investor support through the development of a resilient market infrastructure capable of accommodating product diversification.

Consequently, we continually invest in information technologies to improve our service capabilities and foster market diversification, ultimately benefiting those who engage in buying and selling securities within our market.

11. Enhancing market transparency through innovative initiatives is pivotal to fostering investor resilience within our market. It is crucial to offer investors near real-time access to transactional updates regarding their securities accounts. Until recently, many of us may not have been aware of the existence of our CSD Securities Accounts, which are designed to manage and monitor investor activities and balances in the securities market.

To advance market transparency and provide timely information to investors through our system, the CSD has initiated a project to introduce an Investor Portal specifically for this purpose. We strongly believe that this initiative will significantly empower investors with comprehensive insights into their securities accounts, thereby contributing to the overarching objective of enhancing investor resilience.

12. In the broader securities market, the CSD is actively considering the implementation of data science methodologies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence tools to enhance the dissemination of valuable information aimed at aiding investors in their decision-making processes.

13. In conclusion, we congratulate the Ghana Stock Exchange for this year’s celebration and wish each one of us a happy celebration.

14. THANK YOU.