The Private Banking Code of Conduct (PB Code) was launched in April 2011. The PB Code sets out standards of good practice on competency and market conduct expected of private banks. Please refer to www.abs.org.sg for a copy of the PB Code.

Under the PB Code, private banking professionals (or “Covered Persons”) are expected to pass a common competency assessment called the Client Advisor Competency Standards (CACS) before they provide any financial advice. The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) has been appointed the Administrator for the CACS. The CACS takes effect from 1 September 2011.

CACS Assessment

The CACS is intended to broaden and deepen the capabilities of these professionals in the provision of comprehensive private banking services. The CACS will assess the knowledge dominant competencies of Covered Persons in the areas of market conduct and product knowledge.

The CACS is organized as a two-paper assessment: Paper 1 will cover concepts on Wealth Management Legislations, Regulations and Industry Codes of Practice; whilst Paper 2 will cover concepts on Wealth Management Industry and Product Knowledge. Candidates will have to pass BOTH Papers in order to be deemed to have passed CACS. An outline of the scope of coverage of the two Papers is summarized below.

Assessment Structure / Content

Paper 1 : Legislations, Regulations & Industry Codes of Practice
-Overview of the Private Banking Business
-Marketing Activities and Client Acquisition
-KYC and Understanding Client's Needs
-Developing Solutions and Advising Clients
-Obtaining Client's Agreement and Implementation
-Monitoring and Reviewing Client's Portfolios
-Wealth Transfer and Succession Planning for Private Banking Clients

Paper 2 : Industry & Product Knowledge
-Investment Concepts - Risk and Return
-Portfolio Management
-Fixed Income and Equity Securities
-Options, Futures, Foreign Exchange and Swaps Contracts
-Structured Products
-Unit Trust and Fund Products
-Alternative Investment Products and Services
-Using Credit and Leverage

Duration

The duration of Paper 1 is 1.5 hour and the duration of Paper 2 is 2 hours.

Schedule

There are three sessions daily, from Mon – Fri (excluding public holidays). The timing of the sessions are as follows:

Note : The above timing may be subject to change at the discretion of IBF.

Assessment Questions

The Assessment will comprise multiple-choice questions, and include both questions testing concepts, as well as computations.

CACS Fees

The following table outlines the applicable fees for CACS. Funding from Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF) will be available, upon candidate's successful completion of the CACS assessment (i.e. only when the candidate passes the CACS). The claims should be submitted to FSDF within 3 calendar months of the end of the financial institution's financial year. For further information, please refer to http://www.fics.org.sg/funding/overview.asp or write to fsdf@mas.gov.sg

Please note that there may be other administrative charges incurred for CACS, e.g. for purchase of the hardcopy CACS study guide, or for any requests to re-schedule assessment dates. These administrative charges are not eligible for funding by FSDF.

FSDF FICS Funding Subsidy of 70% is applicable

A GST of 7% would be charged on the above fees

Registering for CACS

To facilitate private banks in registering their candidates for CACS, IBF will start to accept priority registration from Private Banks via our online registration platform with effect from 1 September 2011.

Special Privileges for IBF Members

The following enhanced services would be made available for IBF members:

• Private Booking - Private Banks can choose to book the entire IBF Assessment Centre which has a full capacity of 46 seats for an exclusive sitting of CACS. This will allow bankers to take the CACS privately, without other candidates. Fee chargeable = $13,800 per session (before GST).

• Group Booking – IBF will also allow group bookings, subject to a minimum booking of 10 candidates. This does not prevent other banks / public from joining in the same session.

• Customised Reporting – IBF will be able to customize the reporting of the results of candidates to help private banks to track the top-scorer or candidates who require more coaching. Otherwise, the default reporting format would be a pass/fail score. The Customised Reporting service is available only to IBF Members who make Private or Group Bookings.

To find out if your company is an IBF member organisation, please click here.

In order to enjoy the above privileges, you may sign-up as an IBF Member, and register for an IBF Corporate Login Account.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

As provided under the PB Code, all Covered Persons are expected to achieve a minimum of 15 hours of CPD in each calendar year. The CPD requirement will take effect from 1 March 2013 onwards. Covered Person who passes CACS prior to 1 March 2013, the CPD obligation under the PB Code for Year 2013 will be 12 hours of CPD. The CPD obligation from Year 2014 onwards will be 15 hours of CPD per year. If a Covered Person passes the CACS on or after 1 March 2013, the CPD obligation under the PB Code will be pro-rated as set out in paragraph 3.1.3 under the Competency Section of the PB code.

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