Addressing 110 guests, CISI CEO Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI, commended the transformation and bounceback of the Cypriot financial markets and economy.
He said: “The turnaround in the Cypriot financial markets and wider economy is impressive. The Bank of Cyprus is now listed on the London Stock Exchange, unemployment is falling, tourism is booming and Paphos is the 2017 European Capital of Culture.”
In 2016 over 1,000 CISI qualifications were taken by candidates on the island of Cyprus. Simon said that the CISI had received several enquiries from EU regulators wanting to know if CISI exams are compliant with European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) requirements. He said: "The simple answer is yes. Our Introduction exam is fully ESMA compliant and around 5,000 individuals entered for this exam last year. In some Gulf states this CISI qualification is the threshold competence requirement to operate in the market.”
Recognising the achievement of the CISI Cyprus branch, which was started in 2009 by past president Charles Charalambous, Chartered MCSI and current president Petros Florides, Chartered FCSI, Simon said: “Charles and Petros realised early on that the most important factor in building up a global financial centre was, and remains, the ability to have a pool of skilled people. They could see that bringing CISI’s international qualifications to Cyprus would quickly allow Cypriots to reach international benchmark standards in finance.”
The CISI is the only professional body that requires members to take and pass an integrity test before being accepted for membership. Three highly regarded Cypriot educational bodies have partnerships with the CISI: the European Institute of Management and Finance, the Cyprus International Institute of Management and the European University in Cyprus.
“These superb strategic partners provide high quality training for the CISI syllabi. Our partnership with CySEC, the regulator, has resulted in the mandating of certain examinations. So the combination of internationally recognised globally portable CISI qualifications, mandated by the Cypriot regulator, for local Cypriots, is working well,” said Simon.
The chairwoman of CySEC, Demetra Kalogerou, said: “Financial education in increasingly important, not just for investors, but also for professionals in the financial services sector, due to the fast growing sophistication of financial markets and the increasing variety and complexity of the financial instruments offered to investors.
For this reason, amongst other things, for the last four years CySEC has been working intensively on revolutionising the entire system of certifications. Our overall aim was to create a more efficient and effective way for people to study, learn and become certified. Here I would like to thank the CISI for a very fruitful co-operation towards the successful implementation of this project.”
VIP attendees at the dinner included an executive board member of the Central Bank, Mr George Syrichas; Director of Finance at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Andreas Charalambous; and the British High Commissioner, Foreign & Commonwealth office, Mr Matthew Kidd.
Sponsors were Safecap Investments/Markets.com Group, KPMG, Global Recruitment Solutions and GOLD Business Magazine, without whom it would not have been possible. If you would like to support future dinners, please contact nikki.macmillan@cisi.org