The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) wants to highlight a low level of financial literacy in Cyprus and evaluate consumers' knowledge about investments and economic activities. Therefore, the financial market watchdog launched an online quiz on Thursday, allowing investors to examine their level of expertise.
The quiz was prepared as an answer to CySEC's recent participation in World Invest Week 2022, which placed great emphasis on consumer education and awareness. According to the press release, questions were prepared within the framework of the regulator's mandate to boost financial literacy among consumers and retail investors.
Although CySEC is not giving any specific numbers, it honestly admits that an average Cypriot consumer represents low financial and trading knowledge levels. Young people, in particular, lack elemental economic wisdom compared to their older peers.
"Inexperienced investors often make wrong investment decisions, based on assumptions and beliefs that stem from overconfidence in their investment knowledge or following encouragement from friends, relatives, and/or celebrities who promote investment products online, exposing them to high investment risks. What is more, investment risks are continually increasing due to new digital investment trends that are especially attractive to youngsters," CySEC stated in a press release.
The quiz's primary goal is to educate and inform, so after each question, the user will see the correct answer and additional materials related to the topic covered by the question. Want to test your financial knowledge? The CySEC quiz is available here.
Watch Out for "Finluencers"
In the latest announcement, CySEC draws attention to the problem of promoting investments by celebrities and financial influencers (finfluencers). In July 2022, the financial market watchdog launched a special investor protection campaign to tackle this issue.
CySEC finds that the lower the financial literacy, the higher the risk, making the investment decision based not on knowledge and rational thinking, but on social media and emotional pressure, which is increased by famous figures on the Internet.
