Varanasi: Stressing on an urgent need to spread financial awareness among the people, markets regulator Sebi Chairman U K Sinha Saturday said agents of various money-pooling companies were defrauding the investors and were earning huge commissions.
"Financial awareness is a must to safeguard investors from frauds in the markets," Sinha said here at a programme organised to mark the centennial celebrations of Banaras Hindu University and the 75 years of the Faculty of Commerce in this central university.
He also suggested setting up of an investor education centre at BHU.
"Agents of the money-pooling companies mislead the investors and earn huge commissions from the money invested by the public, which is a fraud on the investors," Sinha said, while adding that necessary regulations have been made to check this menace at the ground level and 15 states have implemented the same.
Besides, Sebi is providing free consultation to investors through phone calls in 14 languages on 24-hour basis, where there grievances are resolved.
"In the last six years, six lakh people have benefitted from this service," Sinha said, while adding that the capital markets regulator has been able to achieve seventh position globally in terms of investor protection.
Sebi is also providing information through its website and help resolve the investors' complaints, Sinha said.
The National Stock Exchange was a partner in organising the Seminar on Economic Empowerment Through Financial Education along with SEBI and BHU.
Sinha also asked investors to exercise caution while investing and asked them to choose the right intermediary and the right products to invest in.
BHU Vice Chancellor G C Tripathi said India's capital markets were still away from the common man and there was an urgent need to connect them through a national awareness programme.
NSE's Managing Director Chitra Ramakrishna said, "Our aim is to reach out to investors to inculcate a disciplined approach to investing,so that they can understand financial planning better and work towards a sound financial future."
Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha, is an important cultural hub of the country, and the economy here is driven by tourism as well as small scale industries, involved mainly in the manufacturing of Banarasi silk.
The seminar also focussed on various investment products such as ETFs. Ramakrishna also said that SMEs often face funds crunch because of limited sources of capital for them.
"Listing on the SME platform of NSE helps them to raise funds for growth and innovation,gives them visibility and credibility among investors, apart from helping the companies to unlock value for its early investors to find an efficient exit," she added.
