L-R: Paul Chahine, Sustainability Research Manager at LuxSE; Laetitia Hamon, Head of Sustainable Finance at LuxSE; Claude Marx, Director General of CSSF; Julie Becker, CEO of LuxSE; Credit: LuxSE

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) and Luxembourg's financial watchdog, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF),  joined forces on Tuesday to highlight the importance of investor education and protection, as part of the 5th World Investor Week organised by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

For the third consecutive year, LuxSE CEO Julie Becker and CSSF Director General Claude Marx co-hosted a "Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy" ceremony at the exchange, to strengthen public awareness of the importance of financial literacy in Luxembourg, with a specific focus on sustainable finance knowledge and awareness.

"Investor education is an essential part of investor protection, which is at the core of our mission as an exchange. Financial literacy helps strengthen confidence and trust in financial markets, and this is crucial to mobilise funding for the transition to a low-carbon and more inclusive economy. Many companies across different industries are striving to accelerate their transition efforts, but lack the necessary in-depth understanding of ESG aspects. Exchanges have a duty to help close this knowledge gap", commented Julie Becker.

The CSSF together with Luxembourg's Ministry of Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Digitalisation, the ABBL Foundation for Financial Education and ErwuesseBildung recently launched a training programme on e-banking for the elderly population in the Grand Duchy. “The CSSF cares about their financial inclusion and financial autonomy”, explained Claude Marx in his speech.

The event also zoomed in on some of the initiatives that have been established in Luxembourg to increase financial education, especially in the field of sustainable finance. Laetitia Hamon and Paul Chahine explained the success of the LGX Academy over the past year, while Fabian Longo and Ben Lyon from the House of Training presented the organisation’s mission and how it plans to strengthen sustainable finance certification in Luxembourg. Frederic Haupert from CARE Luxembourg completed the session by presenting CARE’s Climate & Resilience Academy for the private sector, which was launched earlier this year.

Celebrated this week by around 80 stock exchanges around the world, the Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy is a global campaign that aims to raise public awareness and promote financial literacy worldwide and highlight what regulators and exchanges are doing in this field.