The talk focused on issues related to financial sector regulation and how it is not tuned to protect the interests of small investors. It will draw from Ms. Dalal’s work with financial consumers, which shows how numerous products are launched without enough information or on false promises, leading to losses, stock manipulation and at times even insider trading. It will also touch upon the changing international discourse on financial regulation following the 2008 financial crisis and the increasing evidence from behavioural economics, which refutes the ‘rational consumer’ approach towards regulation. Considering such issues ranging from regulatory governance to implementation framework, the talk will also propose alternatives for making the regulators more accountable and protecting the interests of the small investors.
Transcript of the talk is available here. A recording of the lecture can viewed below:
Ms. Dalal is an acclaimed financial journalist, who has worked with several of India’s leading newspapers, including the Times of India and Indian Express groups at senior levels. She is widely known for her investigative reporting on the 1992 securities scam, CR Bhansali scam and the exposé of Enron. Among her works is the best-selling book "The Scam: From Harshad Mehta to Ketan Parekh" which was published in 1993 and last revised in 2005. She served as a member of the primary market advisory committee of SEBI and of the Investor Education and Protection Fund, Government of India. She has been accorded many awards including the Chameli Devi Award for outstanding journalism (1993) and Femina Woman of Substance Award (1993). Based on her outstanding investigative journalism spanning two decades, she was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006. Presently she is Managing Editor at Moneylife - a personal finance magazine that she co-founded in 2006 to serve the interests of consumers and investors. In 2010, she co-founded Moneylife Foundation to spread financial literacy.