FSSC To Review Best Practices For Securities And Derivatives Professionals

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

10 June 2009

The Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) has announced the imminent launch of a review of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Securities & Derivatives. The FSSC is inviting practitioners to get involved in the project.

The NOS were approved in 2007, which means that much of the work underpinning their content took place during 2005 and 2006. As such, an incremental review will be taking place to ensure that their content remains topical and relevant to the industry, not least in the context of the pressures in securities and derivatives markets which came into prominence during 2008.

The Standards are grouped into two categories:

‘Providing retail advice on securities and derivatives,’ which describes the competences required for activities such as identifying an investment strategy to meet retail clients’ financial objectives, and ‘Advising on securities and derivatives in the wholesale market’, which covers giving investment advice on securities and derivatives for wholesale clients, and maintaining business relationships within the wholesale securities and derivatives markets.

Industry practitioners are invited to get involved, either as a member of the project’s Working Group, or as one of a wider range of consultees. Three Working Group meetings are scheduled for the project, which will run between June and December 2009.

“These are extremely pressured times for securities and derivatives practitioners. The FSSC continues to work in partnership with employers, professional bodies and trade associations to produce high quality performance standards for the financial services industry” said Penny Bance, Head of Education. “We are inviting all securities and derivatives practitioners to get involved in the crucial process of shaping these Standards.”

"A separate strand of work is also under way to produce revised NOS for Providing Financial Advice and Planning and, with both projects taking place during the Retail Distribution Review, they offer an ideal opportunity for practitioners to help inform the competences which would be appropriate to raise investment advice standards and ultimately provide a better customer experience," concluded the FSSC statement.

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