The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) held its 3rd Annual Conference entitled “Transformational Leadership in a Changing Financial Landscape” and 34th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 24th June 2009.

In his opening address, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chairman of IBF emphasised the importance for the industry to reach out to talent pools and enhance the resilience of the financial workforce through the Financial Industry Competency Standards (FICS). Mr Heng emphasised that “no organisation can expand beyond its capabilities. To position ourselves for the future, the building of individual competencies and corporate capabilities is imperative.”

Mr Heng also highlighted the need for leaders of financial regulators and financial institutions to manage the immediate priorities without losing sight of the long-term goals and strategy. Transformational changes that the industry was undergoing would demand transformational leadership. Leaders with vision and perseverance to integrate individual and corporate capabilities would differentiate their institutions.

This year, IBF welcomed Professor Michael Useem, William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management & Director, Center for Leadership and Change Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, as the conference keynote speaker.

In his keynote presentation, Professor Michael Useem focused on the key leadership capabilities and traits which are vital for the financial industry. He touched on 3 main aspects - “When does leadership make the greatest difference”, “What leadership competencies make the difference” and “How leadership is developed”.

Professor Useem’s in-depth presentation on transformational leadership was complemented by a lively exchange amongst the panelists, comprising distinguished practitioners – Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO, South East Asia Pacific, Citibank N.A.; Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, CEO, Singapore Exchange Limited; and Mr Hugh Young, Managing Director, Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd and Distinguished FICP.

The panelists discussed the key industry concerns in a changing financial landscape such as the important characteristics of leadership, the varied leadership style of Asian and non-Asian leaders and the time-horizon needed to develop good leaders. The panelists emphasised the importance of having balanced style leadership and to actively engage the board and Chairman in attracting talent and in areas such as leadership development and succession planning.

In conjunction with the Annual Conference, IBF has also arranged for an FICS Training Fair to showcase the latest FICS programmes, which included accredited training providers such as Nanyang Polytechnic, Orion Human Capital, PI ETA Consulting Co., Portcullis Institute Pte Ltd, Temasek Polytechnic and the Securities and Investment Institute, in addition to IBF's Lead Providers, namely Financial Training Institute @SMU, International Compliance Association, NUS Risk Management Institute, Singapore College of Insurance and Wealth Management Institute.