SFC and OUHK LiPACE Joint Press Release Free Investor Education Seminars for the Public

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Li Ka Shing Institute of Professional and Continuing Education (LiPACE) of The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) have again partnered to launch a new series of investor education seminars for the public free of charge (Note 1).

A total of 13 seminars and workshops will be held from 13 November to 10 December 2005. Prominent speakers and market practitioners, including Mr Cho Chi Ming, Mr Lam Sum Chee, Mr Ronald Kung, Mr Ben Kwong and members of Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts, The Hong Kong Capital Market Association, The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association and Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association, will speak on various topics of investor interests (Note 2).

The scope of the seminar series has been expanded. There will be two Personal Financial Planning Days with seminars and customised workshops for different age groups. In addition to the discipline of financial investing, bonds, funds and market analysis, other new topics include fundamental analysis on stocks, new investment products for retail investors and the flow of a stock transaction.

All the seminars and workshops will be conducted in Cantonese. Participants of each seminar may also win book prizes.

For the first time, to broaden the reach to the public, the joint seminars will be videotaped and the abridged version will first be broadcast on News Channel 1 of Cable TV together with excerpts of the seminars on the Hong Kong Economic Journal in December 2005. The expanded version will be aired on TVB Pearl as part of the “Open for Learning” programme in early 2006. More details will be announced at the “Education News” section on the SFC’s investor education portal, Electronic Investor Resources Centre at www.eirc.hk, in due course.

Mr Ian Johnston, Adviser to Chairman’s Office of the SFC, said: “Knowledgeable investors make better decisions. Given increasingly complex markets, it is important for investors to learn how to invest wisely and manage their finance prudently. We are pleased to join hands with the OUHK to launch these seminars to promote investor education and enhance the public’s financial literacy.”

Prof Lui Yu Hon, Director of LiPACE, said: “Knowing how to invest may help us live in affluence. Investment cannot be based on hearsay. It needs learning, understanding and analysis. We are delighted to organise these seminars with the SFC to enhance public understanding of proper investment knowledge and concepts.”

The first six seminars and workshops held in November will be open for enrolment starting from 4 November on a first-come-first-serve basis. Enrolment for the other seven sessions held in December will begin on 18 November. Members of the public can enrol online at the OUHK website (www.ouhk.edu.hk/lipace_seminars) or contact LiPACE on 3120 9988 to enquire about the enrolment details.

Ends

Notes:

1. The SFC and the OUHK first jointly organised a series of investor education lectures in 2003.

2. Attached is a schedule of the Investor Education Seminars Jointly Organised by the SFC and the OUHK in 2005 with the details of the dates, venues, topics and speakers.