The Agency for Development of the Capital Market believes that financial literacy must be instilled into high school students.

As the representative of the regulator Marina Ogai noted at the regular Town Hall meeting, the Agency also plans to develop the level of knowledge and professionalism among market participants, to increase students’ interest in the financial sector.

To this end, the Agency signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Republican Higher School of Business and Management. Within the framework of the agreement, the parties plan to cooperate in the following areas:

•  involvement of the Agency staff in the educational process of higher education;

•  involvement of scientific-pedagogical staff, researchers of higher education in the work on the development of regulatory documents of the Agency;

•  joint holding of forums, conferences, seminars;

•  implementation of joint projects under research grants from both the state and other international donors;

•  education and training, retraining and professional development of the Agency employees, professional capital market participants;

•  development of higher education curricula in areas that are determined by the Agency.

Under the last point of the agreement, the Agency and the higher school began to work on the preparation of curricula and introduction of the course in three areas: corporate finance, capital accounting and investment ethics.

“The next serious and responsible project for us is the establishment of the Capital Market Academy. Its main functional unit will be a scientific-research unit that will not only study international experience and identify the best models of reforming the sphere, but also introduce options for structural changes adapted to the current local realities. Here, ideas will have to be tested,” Marina Ogai said.

The academic unit will be designed for wider segments of the population. It will include long-term degree programs as well as short-term courses.

“On the one hand, we want to promote the capital market, on the other – we need to be careful that people understand that investing in securities is a risky business. Unlike bank deposits, the purchase of shares does not guarantee a refund. When we talk about financial literacy, we mean that the population, before investing in stocks, should be aware that there are risks,” director of the Agency Atabek Nazirov said.

As part of these projects, the Agency is negotiating with the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ and other international donors.

Earlier, it was reported that the volume of securities in free circulation is planned to reach $6.7 billion by 2025.