The 2nd Annual Conference on Financial Literacy Was Held Under the Auspices of the Athens Stock Exchange

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

The 2nd Annual Conference on Financial Literacy, held under the auspices of the Athens Stock Exchange, ended on Friday, 20th of April 2018, with a strong participation and significant contributions. The Conference was jointly organised by the University of Piraeus and Nikolaos Philippas, Professor of Finance and Chairman of the Hellenic Financial Literacy Institute.

The Athens Stock Exchange’s support of the Conference on Financial Literacy falls within the scope of the activities already being implemented with the purpose of informing and educating schoolchildren and students on the field economic studies and the institution of the stock exchange.

Mr. Sokratis Lazaridis, CEO of the Athens Stock Exchange, noted: “This is the second year that the Stock Exchange is hosting and supporting the Literacy Conference, as an acknowledgement of the important role which the dissemination of financial education to the general public can have. The capital market is an important tool internationally for the investment of savings, and its role as a mechanism for economic growth expands as financial knowledge spreads across society, irrespective of age, gender and educational level”.

Many members of the academic community participated in the conference proceedings, with contributions concerning both to the scientific dimension of the concept of Financial Literacy and its practical applications. Moreover, the Conference had a strong international character, as keynote speaker this year was Dr. Adele Atkinson, Senior policy analyst within the OECD Financial Education and Consumer Protection Unit, who analysed the “National Strategies for financial education and the related OECD toolkit and network”. After the end of the conference, Dr. Adele Atkinson rang the traditional closing bell of the Stock Exchange trading session.

Included as speakers in the event, in alphabetical order, were also:

Panagiotis Andreou, Assistant Professor of Finance, Cyprus University of Technology
Giannis Kantoros, CEO, Interamerican part of ACHMEA,
Olga Kefalogianni, Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Aggelos Kottios, Rector of University of Piraeus
Giorgos Panos, Professor of Finance of the University of the Glasgow, Adam Smith Business School,
Nikolaos Philippas, Professor of Finance, University of Piraeus, Chairman and Founder of the Hellenic Institute of Financial Literacy
The conclusions of the Conference focused on the key themes of the actions that need to be taken to address the phenomenon of the financial illiteracy of citizens, the role of the University in the dissemination of financial literacy across society, insurance literacy, the national strategies for financial education, the necessary educational reforms, the role of entrepreneurship, as well as the findings and effects of financial illiteracy in Cyprus.