World Investor Week 2026 opens in Bangladesh on Sunday with a focus on digital deception, scam alerts and investor resilience, but market participants say years of irregularities, weak accountability and unresolved fraud have left many investors largely disengaged from such awareness programmes.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will observe the week from 5 to 11 October, with the opening programme on 4 October and a closing event on 12 October. This is the 10th edition of the initiative in Bangladesh.
This year’s campaign comes as regulators warn of growing investment scams involving artificial intelligence, deepfakes, social media and unauthorised digital platforms.
Fraudsters are increasingly using fake advertisements, cloned voices and images of familiar people or institutions and promises of outsized returns to draw investors into unregulated schemes.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which launched World Investor Week in 2017, has identified investor resilience, digital deception and scam alerts as the main themes this year.
IOSCO has also warned about relationship-based investment scams, where fraudsters build trust through social media, dating apps or online groups before encouraging victims to invest in cryptocurrency, gold or foreign exchange.
Victims may initially see large paper profits on an app, but withdrawals are later blocked on different pretexts, eventually exposing the investment platform as fraudulent.
Bangladesh’s programme will also warn against Ponzi schemes, unauthorised forex trading, fake cryptocurrency platforms and investment decisions based on rumours.
Investors will be advised not to place money with platforms lacking BSEC approval and to lodge complaints quickly if they fall victim to fraud.
BSEC Executive Director and spokesperson Abul Kalam said this year’s programme would place particular emphasis on digital fraud and unauthorised platforms alongside broader investor awareness.
“Our main objective is to ensure that an investor does not make decisions based on rumours or unverified information, but instead considers their own risk and makes informed decisions,” he said.
“At the same time, the commission is working to build a responsible and aware investor community by improving investment education and financial literacy.”
But investor interest remains weak.
Sani Mahmud, a capital-market investor from Moghbazar, said investors had little enthusiasm for World Investor Week because public discussions often failed to translate into action.
“We actually have no interest in World Investor Week,” he said. “In Bangladesh there is a lot of rhetoric at meetings and seminars, but little is implemented in practice.”
Mahmud said the programmes could benefit both investors and the market if they reached ordinary investors in a simple and practical way instead of remaining confined to seminars.
Experts say the credibility gap is rooted in deeper structural problems, including longstanding market irregularities, failure to punish wrongdoing, weak transparency and accountability, a shortage of quality companies and inadequate redress for investors who have suffered losses through fraud.
Professor Al-Amin, dean of the Faculty of Business Studies at Dhaka University and a capital-market analyst, said awareness programmes would struggle to gain traction without visible outcomes.
He said financial literacy was important, but global standards needed to be applied effectively in the domestic market.
“If financial literacy improves, a knowledge-based investor community will develop. Then the real impact of various initiatives will also be felt,” Al-Amin said.
He added that restoring confidence required faster implementation of reforms rather than repeated discussion.
Alongside BSEC, the Dhaka Stock Exchange, Chittagong Stock Exchange, Central Depository Bangladesh Limited, Central Counterparty Bangladesh Limited, BSM, Bangladesh Institute of Capital Market and other institutions and professional bodies will take part in the week.
Sessions will cover investor resilience, digital risk management, diversification, market transparency and fraud prevention.
The central challenge, however, remains whether awareness campaigns can translate into greater trust and participation in a market where investors continue to question governance and enforcement.
