Vulnerable or Empowered? Online Investors and Regulation
• Chief Investigators: Dr Kirsty Williamson, Professor Dimity Kingsford
Smith, Faculty of Law, Monash University
• Funder: School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS), Monash
University ($5,000).
Aims
of the Project
• To explore the limitations of present legal regulation to provide protection
for investors in the online environment.
• To understand the need for regulation by identifying and analysing the
content of sites offering online investment information and advice.
• To explore the attitudes, practices and understandings of sponsors of
online investment sites, especially with regard to the provision of investment
information and advice.
• To explore the needs, experiences, knowledge and understanding of investors,
particularly with regard to information, advice and financial risk.
• To examine new regulatory techniques, especially decentred approaches
taking into account features of online investing such as immedicacy, innovative
nature and global reach.
• To develop recommendations for law reform.
Methods
The field work for the pilot involved exploratory interviews with:
• 5 online investors,
• 5 non-online investors,
• 2 site sponsors
• 1 regulator.
Current
Status
The project began in early May, 2002 and will be completed in December, 2003.
An article on the information-seeking behaviour of investors (online and traditional)
is about to be submitted to a legal journal.
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