The Guernsey Financial Services Commission and Banque de France’s EDUCFI announce new partnership on financial literacy

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission is pleased to announce a new partnership in financial literacy with “EDUCFI”, the French National Financial Literacy Strategy operated by Banque de France, the French central bank, in order to provide unbiased, easy-to-read, quality material designed to help local people understand financial matters more easily. 

The partnership will see the Commission translate and adapt the Banque de France’s “Mot de l’Actu” or “A word from the news” and its “Eco en bref” or “The Economy at a glance” publications for Guernsey residents. Both publications are designed to provide consumers with trustworthy and free of charge information about the economy and financial terms. The Commission hopes that this knowledge and understanding will help people make more informed decisions about the types of investment and credit options available.

William Mason, Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, said: “We would like to thank the Banque de France for sharing these fantastic resources with us for the benefit of Guernsey residents, and the opportunities this offers for developing a deeper relationship between our two organisations.

“With the rapid rise of crypto-assets, advances in artificial intelligence and more sophisticated financial scams, having a basic understanding of financial terms and financial products is more important than ever. This is particularly pertinent in the digital age, where websites and ‘finfluencers’ are offering financial advice and promoting products, often mistakenly purporting to offer secure high returns.”

Marguerite Collignan de Durand, Financial Education Director in Banque de France, said: “As stated by Director General Mason, financial literacy is all the more important for the general public as the financial sector is getting increasingly sophisticated and digitalised. In this respect, central banks and supervisors in Europe should work hand in hand to promote a safer financial sector for citizens and investors. We hope that this agreement with the GFSC will be the first step towards a deeper cooperation between our two authorities.”

The Commission looks forward to launching these publications, which will be available on its website, in the near future.