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EDITORIAL: Preventing investment fraud
In the first nine months of this year alone, the OJK’s financial education and financial consumer protection division closed down 48 illegal financial service/investment companies before they hit a large number of victims.
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South Sulawesi Police confiscate fake gold bars from a victim of Dimas Kanjeng Taat Pribadi, a suspect for fraud in Makassar. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)
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n 2014, two years after the Financial Services Authority (OJK) started up operations, it uncovered and eventually stopped 750 investment or financial service companies that either sold bogus products or did not have the proper license to market financial instruments.
In the first nine months of this year alone, the OJK’s financial education and financial consumer protection division closed down 48 illegal financial service/investment companies before they hit a large number of victims.
While this achievement should be credited to the division’s antibogus investment task force, which has been more active in policing the financial market through intelligence operations, that also shows the need for stepping up a nationwide campaign to improve financial literacy.
We should not be shy to admit our utterly low financial literacy. Even the United States government set up a presidential council on financial literacy as part of its response to the 2008 financial crisis following the meltdown in subprime mortgages as many of the borrowers turned out unable to understand the risks.
Simply ensuring people are provided with complete and accurate information and that only the right kinds of products are sold to the right kinds of investors seems no longer sufficient to prevent fraudulent products from the financial market, especially because many Indonesians harbor the “get rich quick” attitude.
Financial literacy now also comprises both information and behavior of all consumers regardless of wealth or income.
There are other reasons as to why financial literacy is especially important today. Financial products and services are becoming increasingly complex and accessible from a growing number and type of providers, both online and offline. Financial products and services have also increased in number and complexity. Investment products are tied to a wide variety of instruments such as savings, stocks, currencies, commodities such as gold and futures trading, which are administered by different institutions.
More consumers are entering the financial markets for the first time because their income is growing or the emergence of new financial institutions, such as financial technology companies and branchless banking, are making it easier for consumers to participate in financial markets.
The OJK’s financial education and consumer financial protection division should step up its nationwide campaign to educate customers to improve financial literacy and intensify intelligence operations to detect bogus investment products.
Investment and financial companies should also be required to improve the way they design and sell products to ensure the products themselves have merit and that they end up in the hands of the customers for whom they are designed.
Amid increasing market competition, there are big risks that salespersons are often tempted to resort to misselling. Given the increasing complexity and sophistication of the industry, a strong regulator is essential to make sure market players are telling the truth.
