SRINAGAR: The Whole Time Member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Ashwani Bhatia on Saturday said that the job of bankers is to take financial education literacy seriously. He asserted that while so much wealth is being created in the country, Jammu and Kashmir too should be made a part of this national journey.
He stated that the customers should be made a part of the wealth-creation journey and encouraged to make long-term investments for decent returns. “Discourage overtrading as the markets can be very volatile and advise them to always invest in companies that give long-term value”, he added.
While delivering a keynote address on ‘Overview of Securities Market’ at J&K Bank’s corporate headquarters, Ashwani Bhatia gave a detailed overview of the securities market in the country saying, “Markets in India are safe, secure and well-regulated. As the fifth largest economy in the world, the value of our GDP i.e. Rs 310 Lac Cr is almost equal to the Market Capitalisation of the companies in the country, which is Rs 300 Lac Cr. In addition, if we add the bond market and other products, it is actually bigger than the GDP of the country. So as the country grows the wealth is actually being created here.”
“But the sad part is that this wealth is not evenly distributed in the country. For the market cap of Rs 300 Lac Cr there are only 11.4 Cr de-mat accounts in the country which actually means that everybody is not participating in the wealth creation happening in the country” he added.
He was accompanied by the Executive Director (SEBI) G P Garg and CGM (SEBI) Saahil Malik on his visit to the Bank’s headquarters.
Pitching for financial deepening in J&K, he advised the Bank management to take the financial education literacy deeper into and across Jammu and Kashmir. He said, “The Assets under management portfolio in J&K are on the very lower side at just Rs 5700 Cr along with only 4.7 Lac Demat Accounts and 4.8 Lac Folios. This calls for a massive financial deepening across the UT of J&K.”
Earlier, MD & CEO Baldev Prakash along with Executive Director Sudhir Gupta received the visiting dignitaries at the corporate office. The keynote address was attended by the Bank’s General Managers, deputy General Managers and other senior officers besides MD JKBFSL and his team of senior officers. Deputy MD &CBO SBI Mutual Funds D P Singh was also present on the occasion.
In his welcome address on the occasion, MD & CEO introduced the special guest saying, “With his treasure of experience and expertise, Bhatia is one of the leading figures in the banking and financial landscape of the country besides being a thorough professional and a great human being.”
“And with a profoundly cerebral grasp over theories and practices of banking, corporate -governance and market-functioning; Bhatia continues to inspire leaders in the banking and financial world with his unique blend of banking knowledge, market insight and regulatory perspective”, he added.
