Over the past 50 years, the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) has been playing a key role in supporting the skills and jobs development of Singapore’s financial sector workforce. Its core mandates are to equip financial sector professionals with relevant skills and capabilities, and develop career pathways and a pipeline of local talents for financial sector jobs, to support the growth of Singapore’s financial sector.
Equipping financial sector professionals with skills
In 1974, IBF was established as a training institute to provide training programmes for skills much needed by the fledgling financial sector in the 1970s. This included a two-year IBF Diploma in Banking and Finance, among other certification programmes. Some of Singapore’s founding bankers still hold fond memories of their days coming for courses at IBF and attaining the IBF Diploma in Banking and Finance IBF’s focus on training continued through to the 1990s and expanded to cover the securities market.
As Singapore’s financial sector started to develop its own training capabilities, IBF conducted a strategic review and repositioned itself in 2001 to focus on enhancing the financial training infrastructure in Singapore. In 2005, IBF took on a new role as the National Accreditation and Certification body for the financial sector. As the standards setting body for financial sector competencies, IBF played the important role of equipping financial sector professionals with the right competencies, encouraging professionals to upskill themselves and achieve industry certification, and ensuring that quality and relevant training courses were offered to the flourishing financial sector. IBF achieved this by collaborating with consultants and leaders from key financial institutions to develop a set of industry-recognised competency standards. While these IBF Standards may have evolved in name and format through the years, their importance remains the same — to provide a quality industry benchmark on skills for all.
Setting skills benchmark
As part of its work in ensuring high competency standards for the financial sector, IBF was also appointed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2001 to conduct the regulatory Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) examinations for the financial sector. In subsequent years, IBF’s role was expanded to conduct the industry examinations, namely the Client Adviser Competency Standards (CACS) and Financial Markets Regulatory Practices (FMRP) examinations.
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In 2019, the IBF Standards was incorporated into the Skills Framework for Financial Services (SFwFS) developed in collaboration with MAS, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG). The SFwFS is the first of its kind globally, where the skills required for various roles in the financial sector are mapped out comprehensively for the whole industry.
Today, many financial institutions use the SFwFS to design their own in-house learning programmes to support their employees’ learning pathways. Training providers and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) also use the skills framework to curate their curriculums and as a reference for future skills studies. Professionals leverage the SFwFS to plan for their upskilling and career progression, and identify the skills needed in current or new job roles. Eligible training courses can be accredited under the SFwFS for co-funding support. Professionals may apply for IBF Certification after successful completion of IBF-accredited courses, to demonstrate their attainment of industry-relevant skills.
Since 1974, some 400,000 individuals have benefitted from training courses offered or accredited by IBF. More than 28,000 practitioners have been certified under the IBF skills framework.
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Creating job opportunities and transforming workforce
Beyond elevating the skills of the financial sector workforce, IBF’s mandate expanded in 2018 to take on a pivotal role in workforce transformation and talent development for the sector. IBF was appointed by WSG to administer the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs) for the financial sector, supporting financial institutions to pre-emptively reskill and redeploy employees whose jobs are impacted by technological and business transformation, transiting them into new or enhanced roles. Since then, more than 5,500 financial sector employees from 61 financial institutions have benefitted from reskilling efforts.
The IBF Careers Connect (IBFCC) was also launched in 2018 with the support of our tripartite partners including MAS, Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and WSG. IBFCC provides jobseekers with career advisory services and access to relevant networking and career-related events. The IBF career advisers help individuals better navigate the job landscape and understand the skills and nuances of different jobs in the financial sector. Since its establishment, more than 3,500 individuals have sought career advisory services, enabling them to transition to new roles and careers in the financial sector.
Recognising IBF’s contribution and unique value proposition, IBF was appointed by the National Job Council as the Jobs Development Partner (JDP) for the financial sector in 2020 to further boost opportunities for Singaporeans to access jobs, traineeships and training in the financial sector. IBF’s appointment as JDP reflected its capabilities as an integrated service provider of skills training, career advisory and job matching for the financial sector; and the role it plays in promoting workforce transformation, talent pipeline building and providing career facilitation services for the sector.
Developing young talent and grooming leaders
To support the development of young local talent, IBF also took on the role of administering the Finance Associate Management Scheme (FAMS) in 2020 and launched the Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme (PTFS) with MAS in 2023. IBF introduced the IBF Golden Jubilee ITE Scholarship in 2024 in partnership with ITE and 13 financial institutions, to promote diversity, inclusivity and skills-based hiring within the financial sector. To groom local leaders for the sector, IBF supports financial institutions’ efforts through the International Postings Programme (iPOST) to enhance overseas exposures, and the Asian Financial Leaders Scheme (AFLS) to hone leadership skills and build local leadership bench strength.
Chia Der Jiun, Chairman of IBF and Managing Director of MAS, says: “IBF is committed to equipping new entrants and seasoned financial sector professionals with the skills needed for a meaningful career.”
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“The proactive and concerted approach that IBF takes together with industry and union partners on workforce transformation and talent development underpins the growth and success of Singapore’s financial sector, which in turn creates more good job opportunities for the local workforce,” Chia adds.
Chia: IBF has a key role in bringing together relevant parties for a common purpose and facilitating industry-wide initiatives. Photo: MAS
United in partnership
Since its inception, IBF has emphasised partnership and collaboration. IBF, together with the industry, sets standards and supports training to build key competencies. IBF convenes and brings together trade unions, financial institutions, industry associations, and the government in a tripartite effort, focusing on workforce transformation. Most importantly, IBF provides a single point of contact for skills, careers and jobs-related matters as an integrated service provider for the financial sector. IBF is supported by a robust structure involving industry leaders and veterans through the IBF Council (chaired by the Managing Director of MAS), the IBF Standards Committee, Industry Workgroups, Examination Boards and Industry Panels and a strong network of IBF Distinguished Fellows and Fellows.
“IBF has a key role in bringing together relevant parties for a common purpose and facilitating industry-wide initiatives,” says Chia.
“Financial institutions provide opportunities for upskilling and reskilling. Government and trade unions provide support and encouragement for individuals to take ownership of their professional development. This tripartite partnership between IBF, government, financial institutions, and trade unions support a dynamic and skilled financial sector workforce,” he adds.
Positioning the workforce to capture future new opportunities
The financial sector will continue to face an increasingly complex world in the years to come. Firstly, on the global front, there are geopolitical tensions that could affect the economy. On the climate front, there is increasing pressure to transition to net-zero by 2050. And on the technology front, there are new technologies which present both opportunities and possible disruptions.
Overall, job roles in the financial sector will demand skills that are more strategic, technological, social and problem-solving in nature. International and leadership experience will also be increasingly important as financial services support the development of our region and beyond.
To keep up with the industry’s changing needs and the emerging skills that are required for the workforce, IBF has worked closely with industry leaders and government agencies (MAS, IMDA, SSG and WSG) to develop resources such as the SFwFS and the Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs) that analysed the impact of emerging trends on jobs and skills. Such resources help the financial sector workforce stay versatile and resilient.
Carolyn Neo, Chief Executive Officer of IBF, says: “The Sustainable Finance JTM launched by MAS and IBF in April 2024 not only identifies which job roles will be augmented by sustainability trends, more importantly it also assesses how jobs will be transformed, with regards to new sustainable finance-related tasks that will be added, and the breadth and depth of skillsets needed for each job role”. The JTM has identified that more than 50,000 financial sector professionals are in job roles that could be moderately to highly augmented, and would need upskilling and reskilling within the next three years.
“The JTM is a timely and comprehensive resource, which enables the financial sector to take a forward-looking and pre-emptive approach to upskill their workforce with emerging skills, positioning financial institutions well to seize new opportunities,” Neo adds.
Neo: IBF remains committed to collaborating with our tripartite partners to shape a skilled and nimble workforce for the financial sector. Photo: IBF
IBF has also launched the IBF Skills Badge to recognise those who have completed an IBF-accredited training course in Sustainable Finance. “IBF’s new Skills Badge will provide a common industry benchmark to recognise individuals’ mastery of emerging skills, and facilitate upskilling, skills-based hiring and career mobility,” Neo explains. The Skills Badge is also stackable towards the attainment of IBF Certification.
Looking ahead, technology will continue to transform the financial sector both in Singapore and globally. In particular, the industry is beginning to witness the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in driving productivity growth. MAS and IBF, with the support of WSG, have also embarked on a JTM study to understand how Singapore’s financial sector can strategically position our workforce to capture the opportunities that Gen AI can bring, while supporting their skills and jobs transformation.
“In the last 50 years, we have built an ecosystem where we have continually reinvented ourselves. IBF remains committed to collaborating with our tripartite partners to shape a skilled and nimble workforce for the financial sector, ‘Elevating Skills and Empowering Careers’ together in the next 50 years and beyond,” says Neo.
IBF has a range of programmes to support the financial sector workforce to stay ahead of the curve in their careers. Whether you are an individual or a financial institution looking to take part in IBF’s programmes, scan the QR code or go to https://www.ibf.org.sg for more information.
