The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has announced its plans to extend its mandatory IntegrityMatters test to candidates in Ireland, Europe and North America, effective 1st February 2014.
This follows the introduction last April of the CISI’s IntegrityMatters online test as a requirement for all UK customer facing, wholesale/capital markets candidates to complete and pass before sitting their entry level exams.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Over 10,000 candidates have now completed IntegrityMatters, the Institute’s online ethics workshop and test, which is not an exam but a multiple stage scenario-based test. It can be taken by individuals on their own computer, either at their desk in the office or at home, with the results being immediately available.
The CISI, whose motto is My Word is My Bond, has been presenting its IntegrityMatters seminars since 2008 to firms and universities both in the UK and overseas, in countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, Kenya, India and South Africa.
The introduction of IntegrityMatters as a pre-exam entry requirement means that the CISI is the first Professional Body in the world to require new capital market entrants to pass an integrity test.
As in the UK, the broadening of the IntegrityMatters test to Ireland, Europe and North America is being undertaken to ensure that new entrants to the capital markets sector realise the importance of integrity and ethics from the moment they enter the industry. This will also mean that integrity, as in the UK, will be tested across the entire industry in these jurisdictions, not just in wealth management and retail financial advice.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataSince its April launch, the IntegrityMatters test has attracted support from Douglas Flint, HSBC Group Chairman; Martin Wheatley, CEO Financial Conduct Authority; and Andrew Tyrie MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, who called the test a "welcome step in the right direction".
Commenting on the CISI IntegrityMatters test, Mark Garnier MP, FCSI, Member of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, also gave his support saying: "The [CISI] integrity test was something we looked at on the Committee and considered it good practice".
To support the second phase of the CISI’s IntegrityMatters initiative, an advertising campaign across transport hubs is being instigated, to include tube stations at Bank and Canary Wharf, plus rail stations at Leeds, Edinburgh Waverley, Birmingham New Street and Connolly station in Dublin, Ireland. A copy of the advertisement is attached.
Bernard Sheridan, Director Consumer Protection, of the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish financial services regulator, said: "We welcome any initiative which helps people to focus on integrity which can help to shape a positive customer focussed culture."
Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI and CISI Chief Executive said: "We are pleased to be introducing the IntegrityMatters test to Ireland, Europe and North America as it means that new entrants to the capital markets sector in these jurisdictions, who will be working directly with firms and clients, realise the importance of integrity and ethics from the moment they enter the industry and they appreciate that integrity comes before profitability.
"We have been presenting our IntegrityMatters seminars to firms and universities since 2008. Our annual Integrity Debate, which is on 25 September this year and features John Authers, Senior Investment Columnist of the Financial Times, and our book Integrity at Work, first published in 2006, the new edition of which is available this month, all demonstrate our focus on providing tangible evidence of our commitment to promoting integrity in our industry".
