Summary Record of the Oecd-Financial Consumer Agency of Canada International Conference on Financial Education: Partnering to Turn Financial Literacy Into Action
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* * with the support of the Russian/World Bank/OECD Trust Fund SUMMARY RECORD OF THE OECD-FINANCIAL CONSUMER AGENCY OF CANADA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FINANCIAL EDUCATION: PARTNERING TO TURN FINANCIAL LITERACY INTO ACTION 26-27 MAY 2011, TORONTO, CANADA Introduction and background The OECD-FCAC International Conference Partnering to Turn Financial Literacy into Action was held in Toronto on 26-27 May 2011. It was co-organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) with the sponsorship of the Russian/World Bank/OECD Trust fund and of several private and public Canadian institutions selected by FCAC. The event was held at the conference centre of the Westin Castle Hotel in Toronto. The conference followed the meetings of the International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Expert Subgroups on the 24 May 2011 and the 7th Meeting of INFE network members on the 25 May 2011. It provided an excellent opportunity to share information about the progress made by INFE and in particular by the Expert Subgroups and discuss initiatives that could inform policy makers and non- government organisations internationally and in Canada. An international audience of high-level governmental officials and experts from public bodies, regulatory and supervisory authorities attended the conference along with senior decision makers and academics from OECD countries and non-OECD members’ economies. Participation from Canada was very high, due notably to the contemporary launching of the renewed Canadian national strategy for financial education and to the strategy of FCAC, which relies on the involvement of the private and voluntary sector in its activities. Around 400 participants coming from 49 countries and non-member economies (including 3 Enhanced Engagement countries: Brazil, India, and South Africa) attended the event – see attached list of participants. The programme of the two-day conference allowed the discussion of the main outputs of the INFE and its Subgroups (Measurement, Evaluation, Schools and National Strategy) while also focusing on new areas of work (Gender Issues, Financial Education and Inclusion, Social Marketing) and the priorities for the Canadian and North-American audience (Credit Management and Bankruptcy, Financial Education for Retirement) . Day I Opening remarks Plenary: current state of financial literacy in Canada Plenary: national and global measure of financial literacy Workshops - Credit and debt management: how can we help people tackle these difficulties and avoid the path leading to bankruptcy? - Does technological innovation equal financial inclusion: what will be the role for financial education? - Planning for retirement: how can we help people better understand and prepare themselves for this important life event? Financial education in the school system Workshops o Social marketing and communication tools: how can we apply them to improve the design of financial education programmes? o Building capacity: how to develop effective train-the-trainer programmes? o Financial education in schools: how do we bring financial education programmes into the classroom? Gender and financial education: an overlooked issue Day II Importance of evaluation of financial education programmes: challenges and existing international best practices and tools Behavioural economics: why and how people make the financial decisions they do? Nudging or educating consumers on financial issues: opposing or complementary interventions? How can we influence financial behaviours in the long term? National strategies on financial education: international guidelines and highlights of the new Canadian strategy Closing remarks Opening remarks The conference was opened by Ms. Ursula Menke, FCAC Commissioner, and by Mr. Andre Laboul¸ Head of the OECD Financial Affairs Division. Ms. Menke began praising the remarkable turnout to the conference, a powerful testimony of the interest in financial education in Canada and worldwide. Such interest, which was reinforced by the turmoil on financial markets, could not have been sustained without the excellent game shaping work done by public institutions and organisations. Such momentum, she stressed, will be the key to the success of the Canadian national strategy and to the continued activity of partnerships in this field. Mr. Laboul, thanking the more than 225 organisations in the audience, underlined the increasing interest of governments, authorities and international organisations in financial literacy. He noted how the growing number of public and private institutions active in financial education and financial consumer protection should lead the way for more cooperation and the design of national strategies in more countries. In this respect, he complimented the work of the Canadian Task Force on Financial Literacy and in particular the leading role displayed by FCAC and the Canadian Government. Plenary: current state of financial literacy in Canada Mr. Jacques Menard, Vice-Chair of Canada’s Task Force on Financial Literacy, began by encouraging collaboration, the underlying theme of the conference, which he defined as the precondition for the success already highlighted in the opening remarks. He identified financial education as a strategic priority for both local and provincial governments, and then addressed the main recommendations of the Financial Literacy Task Force, notably the creation of a strategy leader whose role will be crucial in gathering stakeholders’ support around policy priorities. Among these priorities, he mentioned the introduction of financial education in schools, which gathered a lot of support during the public consultation of the strategy. The Q&A that followed allowed representatives from Canadian NGOs in particular to debate with Mr. Menard about the resistance of some local governments to introducing financial education in school 3 curricula and the potential difficulties in making this interesting to students. Mr. Menard indicated that action on parents’ associations is essential in securing support for these policies, and that financial education material should always be tailor made to suit the needs (and grab the attention) of different classes and age groups. Plenary: national and global measure of financial literacy The plenary focused on the role of national surveys of financial literacy in describing overall levels of financial literacy, identifying target groups and what to teach to them. It addressed in particular the methods used by countries to measure financial literacy, the challenges faced and the results obtained. The panel was moderated by Dr. Adele Atkinson, Policy Analyst, Financial Education, OECD, who also introduced the two international measures of financial literacy developed by the OECD, the PISA Financial Literacy option for 15 year olds and the INFE Financial Literacy Measurement Pilot, concluding with some preliminary findings from the second. Ms. Jennifer Robson, Senior Policy Research Officer, Policy Research Initiative, Canada, presented the key findings from the Canadian Financial Capability Survey. She began indicating the various ways in which the survey had been analysed, notably providing descriptive results (stressing that these are not the same as a measure of financial literacy), a factor analysis to create a national index, and a cluster analysis to look for patterns of how Canadians do on the index. She then illustrated some of the results, providing several examples such as financial strain by net worth quintiles, the percentage of Canadians without a bank account, how Canadians keep track of their expenses and plan ahead. Mr. Aleksander Rychwalski, Department of Education, Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Poland, after a quick presentation of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and of its objectives, among which is the education of the public in financial matters, he presented the objectives of the polish survey on financial literacy. He noted in particular the importance of identifying specific groups and the creation of a benchmark in the framework of the development of a Polish national strategy on financial education. He concluded by addressing the method used and the challenges faced, and illustrating some of the key findings of the survey. Ms. Olivia Davids, Financial Services Board, South Africa, explained the interest of the South African FSB in financial literacy measurement in the framework of the need to inform public policy in the development of a financial education strategy and of the need for accountability for funds spent on financial education initiatives. She presented some particular challenges faced, due to the co-existence of first and third world economies in the country and to the cultural and linguistic diversity. Ms. Davids also illustrated some of the key findings of the survey, which underlined the need to tackle financial access and in particular pushed the FSB to adopt a risk-based approach in order to target the most vulnerable customers of financial products. She concluded stressing that the INFE model appeared to have worked well in a diverse society such as South Africa. 4 Workshops Credit and debt management: how can we help people tackle these difficulties and avoid the path leading to bankruptcy? The workshop, moderated by Mr. Jim Callon, Superintendent, Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, began by him outlining key relevant international data on insolvency rates