Corporate Governance and Investor Protection go hand in hand. In a session conducted by CII today, the focus of the seminar was purely on how corporate governance enhances investor confidence, increases investor participation in capital market and results in overall health of the Indian economy. A lot has been said about Corporate Governance over the last many years, but till date it has mainly remained a formality that is complied with as per law, rather than in spirit. Governance now needs to be implemented in essence and the Board of Directors is responsible for taking this move forward. In terms of investor protection, the following are the key elements that aid in this protection. 1. Financial Literacy – This is by far the greatest driver for investor protection. Just as banking customers are repeatedly informed about the do and don’ts of writing a cheque that helps prevent many frauds, capital market customers or investors need to be provided adequate knowledge and awareness about companies in general, the role of capital market, the instruments, the process of IPO etc. With greater awareness, there are less chances that these investors will put their money in a fraudulent company. 2. There is often a discussion of a need for a central agency to manage investor protection. This central agency can then consolidate all the current silo-ed efforts of various intermediary institutions to create a governing and regulatory body where investors can seek assistance and information. This central agency will go a long way in building the trust of the investors. 3. With respect to the silo-ed approach to reaching out to the customer, it is important that he or she is not bombarded with 5 aspects of the same information in a conflicting manner. Therefore, the consolidation is critical, which will also bring about economies of scale.