S. V. Krishnamohan, Chief General Manager, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Friday said that retail participation in debt, equities and shares needs to be increased.

Retail participation can be increased by imparting necessary financial education and awareness among people, he said.

“With global economy experiencing buy-back programmes, the Indian economy will have an increased flow of money and foreign capital.

FDI changes

There is a need to increase retail participation in debt, equities and shares,” he said while speaking at the 1st CFO Summit organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here on Friday.

The recent changes in FDI rules and regulations by the Centre would help boost investments across various sectors, said B. Madhav Reddy, Managing Director and CEO, Calcutta Stock Exchange Ltd.

“Equity market participation is low and there is a need to increase it through awareness generation among people,” Reddy said.

To help retail investors, CSE has reduced the transaction cost and has set up an institution for awareness generation and investors’ education under the banner of CSE Centre of Capital Market in collaboration with the University of Calcutta.

CFO’s role

Talking about the role of a CFO in the challenging economic conditions, Ambarish Dasgupta, Leader Consulting, PwC India, said, “The role of a CFO has grown from managing the finance of the organisation to development of strategic imperatives which are essential for the growth of organisations.

The strategic activities encompass modelling the unpredictable factors of business situations and analysing the impact of these factors on the company, customers and finances.” A company’s CFO has to be equipped with the requisite tools to deliver effectively. According to Dasgupta, enterprise performance management was one such tool which helps a CFO gain critical insight into the business and supports him in increasing the collective wealth of shareholders.

>shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in