The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently actively investigating hundreds of fraudulent investment schemes prevalent in northern parts of the country – warning investors, especially the youth, not to be swayed by unrealistic returns promised by unregulated investment schemes.
Deputy Director-General in charge of legal, Deborah Mawusi Agyemfra, made this disclosure at Ghana Stock Exchange’s ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ programme. Mrs. Agyemfra added that since 2021 the regulator has investigated 271 companies for running fraudulent investment schemes – with a recent operation in northern Ghana.
This has become very necessary because technology has liberalised access to investment opportunities via the internet and other trading platforms. Mrs. Agyemfra used the occasion to caution the public to be wary of investment schemes that offer unconscionable and unrealistic returns higher than legitimate opportunities.
“If an investment seems too good to be true, it probably is. Investments have inherent risks. So schemes that say you get 30 percent every month are major warnings,” she added.
SEC is now focusing its investor education programmes on vulnerable groups, including religious congregations and old-school networks where scammers often find easy prey.
For her part, Managing Director-GSE Abena Amoah acknowledged the double-edged nature of this digital revolution. New challenges include cybersecurity threats, cyber fraud and the growing influence of unregulated digital assets.
‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ was organised to mark the Investor Week celebration by the Exchange. It was on the theme ‘Navigating Risk in a digital era on the capital market’.
Discover more from The Business & Financial Times
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
