Improving financial literacy

Moscow Exchange professionals, jointly with the Bank of Russia Expert Council on Financial Literacy across Non-Credit Financial Institutions, are involved in the project Financial Literacy Days in Russia’s Regions. In 2015, events were held in the Stavropol region and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District. Moscow Exchange experts held more than 30 meetings with local residents, government officials, entrepreneurs, journalists and students, describing Moscow Exchange’s activities and its new projects. In each region, such events were attended by about 2,500 people. As part of the project, Moscow Exchange supported the publication of a secondary school textbook on financial literacy.

In 2015, Moscow Exchange continued its cooperation with leading Russian financial, technical and economic universities. In 2015, this cooperation involved the Higher School of Economics, the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the MIFI National Nuclear Research University and MIS&A Technical University. The following events were held in cooperation with these universities: Business Dialogue with MGIMO, the international student teleconference „Career Paths in Finance” involving students from financial and economic universities, and MARGINGAME Exchange Sparring. These events were attended by several dozen to several hundred people.

In 2015, Moscow Exchange employees held the I Am an Investor competition, which facilitated the participants’ understanding of exchange instruments and introduced them to exchange trading using a demo account. The competition was attended by about 14,000 people from different regions of the country.

In financial education outreach, Moscow Exchange works closely with the Youth Centre for the Study of Financial Transactions (MTsFO). Moscow Exchange employees participated as experts in the All-Russia Competition of Graduation Papers on financial subjects and in the fourth Financial Literacy Forum. Last year, the distance learning Moscow Exchange School was launched, with MTsFO acting as an educational partner.

In St. Petersburg, the Moscow Exchange organised the interuniversity competition Financial Triathlon — Treasure Exchange. More than 100 students performed tasks on the streets and in the offices of the largest brokerage firms. The route passed through historically significant sites for the exchange sector in St. Petersburg. The event was held in collaboration with St. Petersburg State University’s of Economics (SPbGEU), St. Petersburg State University Department of Economics and the International Institute of Banking. The event’s partners included four leading brokerages: ALOR-SPb, BCS, Otkritie Brokerage House and Energocapital Investment Company.

For those looking to learn more about exchange technologies, more than 80 training workshops were held in Moscow and major regional centres on the following subjects: Investment Vehicles: Where to Invest to Make Money, How to Put Money to Work, Devaluation of the Rouble: How to Protect and Increase your Savings, What’s New in 2015: Taxation for Individuals Operating in the Stock Market, Foreign Exchange Market of the Moscow Exchange and its Instruments, Management of Personal Finances and the Basics of Investing, and others. Analysts of major investment and brokerage companies: Otkritie, BKS, Finam, Zerich, Aton, KIT Finance, IT-Invest took part in the workshops

In 2015, about 4,000 pupils and students visited the Moscow Exchange’s Exchange History Museum. More than 200 guided tours were conducted. Work continued on the Foreign Exchanges exhibition: more than 100 exhibits were added to the museum’s collection.