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The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) have announced an initiative which could herald the beginning of increased harmonisation of financial services qualifications between Ireland and the UK.
UK based professionals transferring to Ireland, who hold the CISI’s Investment Advice Diploma (IAD), will now be exempt from three modules of the Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) designation. The QFA is the benchmark professional designation for financial advisers in the Irish market, approved by the Central Bank of Ireland and provided by the Institute of Banking (IOB) in Ireland, LIA and The Insurance Institute.
This will free up the movement of firms and individuals and further facilitate the continued growth of the financial services industry in Ireland.
The CISI is the leading professional body for securities, investment, wealth and financial planning professionals with over 40,000 members in 116 countries. In addition to London and Dublin, CISI has representative offices in financial centres including Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Dubai, Barcelona, Mumbai and Colombo, working in close cooperation with Regulators, firms and other professional bodies worldwide. Over 40,000 CISI examinations were sat in 80 countries in the last 12 months, with 92% of the world’s international banks taking CISI qualifications. It is also in discussions with the IOB to arrange mutual recognition for those Irish financial advisers possessing the QFA Diploma working in the UK and Northern Ireland.
Frank O’Riordan MCSI, President of the CISI Ireland branch committee said: “We are extremely pleased to be working with the Institute of Banking and delighted to have achieved this important milestone. “We are very supportive of the concept of mutual recognition of capital markets qualifications to make it as seamless as possible for practitioners and firms to move between jurisdictions, while maintaining high standards of professionalism”
The CISI has had representation in Ireland since 2006.
