One day we'll all invest this way: Regulating online investment.

Chief Investigators:

• Professor Dimity Kingsfor-Smith, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales.
• Dr Kirsty Williamson, Director, ITNR, Monash University/Charles Sturt University.
• Stephen Bottomley, Associate Dean & Head of School, Professor of Commercial Law, Australian National University.

Funder:    Australian Research Council

Project Overview

Aims of the Project

• To analyse the limitations of existing legal regulation in providing protection for online investors; .

• To understand whether there is a need for regulation by identifying and analysing the content of investment sites, whether licensed or not eg chat
rooms, portals;
• To explore the needs, experiences, knowledge and understandings, including in relation to information and advice, of online investors ;

• Linked to the above aim, to explore the attitudes, practices, and understandings of sponsors of online investment sites;

• To use a comparative approach to examine regulatory techniques adopted for online investing in overseas markets; and

• To further contemporary regulatory theory and make practical recommendations for regulatory reform.

Research Plan

A‘mixed methods' approach will be used for this project. The aims of the empirical analysis are:

(1) to use website searching software to understand the need for regulation by identifying and analysing the content of licensed online trading sites and
others offering online investment information, such as portals and chat rooms;

(2) to collect, through an online survey, basic information about the kinds of people involved in this form of investment, their types of involvement, and
their use of information and advice; and

(3) to use individual in-depth interviews and focus groups to identify the attitudes, practices, and understandings of sponsors of online investment sites,
and to explore the needs, experiences, knowledge and understandings of investors.

Current Status
One article has been published, and another submitted to a refereed journal.