Good morning Mr Heng Swee Keat, colleagues and supporters of the Financial Industry Competency Standards (FICS) committee and workgroups, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen.

Introduction

Allow me to start by sharing a short excerpt of my personal career path in banking. As an accountant with audit background, the natural entry into banking was through the internal audit function. That was over 20 years ago and my highest ambition then was to be the country CFO. I had little expectation nor any means to broaden out into other functions and sectors of the financial industry.

Well, I never made it to be country CFO (somehow that post eluded me!), but I did acquire a wide range of new skills which eventually took me to senior frontline roles with the bank. My employer had challenged me with a broad range of new learnings and experiences which enabled me to grow beyond my original functional skills onto roles that spanned from operations to frontline relationship management to chief executive of the bank in Singapore .

These are opportunities which should be available to all. The best employers will want to ensure that they maximize the potential of their human resources through continual skills upgrade, broad exposures and functional mobility. It is, in my humble opinion, the best way to attract, develop and retain the best talent in this competitive market place. It was why I had stayed with my bank employer for over 20 years despite many attractive offers that came my way.

FICS and Talent Development

This is where the Financial Industry Competency Standards has a crucial role for the financial industry. FICS provides a comprehensive, transparent set of competency standards for the industry such that there is a structured framework for the development of each staff and for entry into the industry at different stages of a career. We see it as a significant tool to acquire talent and encourage each to continually upgrade and keep abreast of the latest skill-sets of a fast changing industry.

FICS, as a competency framework, sets out clear benchmarks for professional achievement for the entire industry to raise the professional standards of the financial services workforce and training providers. It has been developed by the industry, for the industry.

Take, for example, a new eager entrant to the industry who can now use the framework to chart pathways for continual learning and skills progression towards bigger, broader roles and into a top tier professional who can compete internationally in a wide range of functions.

We should be grooming talents who can lead in the largest international banks with deep capabilities and professional standing. We should have bankers wanting to work in Singapore for the opportunities we offer in skills acquisition and exposures gained.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in his recent interview with CNBC said that his greatest worry for Singapore is growing our talent pool in the longer term. This is precisely what FICS addresses, a forward-looking, sustained training infrastructure to help future-proof Singapore – by increasing the resource pool, attracting the best from all over the world and equipping them to remain relevant into the future.

FICS Benchmarked Against World Class Financial Qualifications

The Financial Industry Competency Standards is built on world class standards, benchmarked against some of the world's best qualifications in the UK , US and Australia , such as the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), Society of Actuaries, Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), CFA Institute, Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and The Chartered Institute of Bankers. It is also broadly aligned with the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications System .

The real proof of it lies in world class international financial institutions adopting its use and finding it of value to their training curriculum. The very first to adopt it was Credit Suisse and we now have a host of others including DBS, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS. Others such as ABN Amro, Barclays, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and HSBC have also sent their staff to attend FICS-accredited programmes.

What can FICS do for you?

At this point you might ask “How can FICS benefit me or my organisation?” Here is how the three broad segments of the financial industry could benefit from FICS:

1) For individuals (for each of us) : Consider gaining an FICS professional certification of your competencies and skills, and then being able to extend into different sectors of the financial industry through portability of your skill-sets. You can match your qualifications to different job families and then chart your career progression through gaining relevant skill in the chosen job role.

2) For financial institutions : FICS provides structured training programmes to enhance the skills and competencies of their staff and provides a world-class accreditation of their in-house programmes.

3) For financial training providers : FICS helps you to establish comprehensive and transparent standards of quality training and acts as a catalyst for designing robust training curriculum that will better meet the current and future needs of the industry

After 4 years in the making, the complete suite of over 270 FICS-accredited programmes for 52 job families in the financial sector will be offered. Importantly we have 5 appointed Lead Providers who have undergone rigorous evaluations and proven that they have the resources to provide the relevant programmes in their area of expertise.

Lead Providers Appointment

Today's appointment of the Lead Providers marks a crucial milestone for IBF and FICS. With these providers, the channel for skills learning is now available to all, from the big institutions who have their own in-house training centres and can use the FICS curriculum as a global benchmark whilst tapping into advanced specialised courses, to the smaller institutions who can use these providers to ensure their staff are well trained in all areas. It underscores our commitment to ensure that continual skills acquisition is available to all and that the programmes offered will keep abreast of the latest developments in the global financial marketplace.

I would like to urge all financial institutions to adopt the FICS framework as a vital tool to attract, retain and develop talent. They will be your most important ingredient for success into the future.

For each of us, I hope that we will be ambassadors for the FICS, encouraging its use so that we are attracting talents to take a stake in the growing financial services industry in Singapore . Do take time after the session to discuss with the 5 Lead Providers present here to discover how you can utilize and benefit from the FICS programmes.

Thank you.