CISI Chief Executive Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI, was in Kuala Lumpur to visit the newly launched ATP at HELP University
From left: Datin Chan-Low Kam Yoke, CEO of HELP University; CISI Chief Executive Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI, and Datuk Dr Paul Chan, Vice- Chancellor and President of HELP University
The ATP was launched in May after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the CISI. Mr Ken McGowan, CISI Regional Director, and Datuk Dr Paul Chan, Vice- Chancellor and President of HELP University, signed the MoU. The signing was witnessed by Alderman Alan Yarrow, Chartered FCSI(Hon), CISI Chairman and Lord Mayor of London.
During his visit, Simon delivered a talk on the topic ‘Ethics, integrity and professionalism in wealth management’ to an audience of bankers, corporate leaders, financial analysts, HELP University’s senior management and academics, and students. He also highlighted the various levels of training and qualifications provided by CISI.
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| The audience indicate their choice of action to Simon by displaying coloured cards in a hypothetical case study |
To reinforce the importance of integrity and honesty, he engaged the audience in a couple of hypothetical case studies, in which the audience had to argue the pros and cons of the case, and to test their own beliefs in ethics and integrity.
He said that with the increasing aging population, there will be a demand for wealth managers to help the elderly to invest and manage their savings prudently. Financial literacy was not taught in schools in Britain until recently, and many teachers and parents are not knowledgeable enough on this to impart sound financial knowledge to children.
“Many young people want to work in the financial industry, but lack the experience and training. CISI combines academic and vocational elements together, which is a double plus. It offers academic vigour, and helps to build the talent the industry needs,” he said.
Datuk Dr Paul Chan remarked that times have changed. “In the early days,” he said, “banks would question the applicants’ credentials and background. However, now customers are asking wealth managers and bankers whether they have the integrity and ethics to manage their wealth. Bankers are being scrutinised by the public now in regards to their integrity and compliance issues, especially since the recent large financial scandals.”
The talk was followed by a panel discussion between Simon, Dr Paolo Casadio, head of the University of London International Programmes at HELP, and Dato’ Akhbar Satar, Chairman of Transparency International (Malaysia Chapter) and Director of the Institute of Crime and Criminology at HELP University.