In 2024, the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) commemorates 50 years of elevating skills and empowering careers in Singapore’s financial sector.
“Every milestone in IBF’s journey was only made possible through the support from our tripartite partners, including the financial institutions, financial industry associations, training providers, trade unions and government agencies,” says Carolyn Neo, CEO of IBF. “We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to all our partners. The open and frank discussion with our partners enabled IBF to co-create and develop impactful initiatives for the financial sector and workforce.”
MOU signing between NTUC, IBF and seven financial industry associations. Photo: National Trades Union Congress
IBF Council
The IBF Council comprises C-suite representatives from financial institutions, industry associations, unions and government agencies. It has guided IBF through its years of transformation ensuring that its initiatives are impactful and valuable to the development of the financial sector. The IBF Audit Committee oversees IBF’s financial reporting, risk management, internal control systems and processes and audit functions.
See also: IBF’s journey in building a skilled and resilient financial sector workforce
IBF Standards Committee
IBF also taps on the IBF Standards Committee, which provides leadership for developing and implementing the Skills Framework for Financial Services (SFwFS), workforce transformation initiatives, IBF Certification and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) frameworks for the financial sector. The Committee comprises Chairpersons of IBF Industry Workgroups who represent various segments of the financial sector and government agencies. IBF is the committee’s executive arm that implements these initiatives to raise industry standards.
See also: Nurturing growth, embracing change
IBF Standards Committee, chaired by IBF Council member Patrick Lee, CEO, Singapore and ASEAN, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) (front row, seventh from right) with IBF Industry Workgroups’ Chairpersons. Full committee composition on www.ibf.org.sg. Photo: IBF
IBF Industry Workgroups
In addition to the two Committees, IBF works with 12 Industry Workgroups that provide the institute with guidance on skills development and workforce transformation initiatives for the respective industry segments. This includes identifying business transformation trends and required core functional skills of their industry segments and encouraging the adoption of the SFwFS as a benchmark in the training and development of financial sector professionals.
The 12 Industry Workgroups include asset management, capital markets and financial markets, compliance, consumer banking, corporate banking, financial planning, future-enabled skills, insurance, private banking and family office, risk management, sustainable finance, technology and operations.
The full listing of members of each IBF Industry Workgroup can be found on www.ibf.org.sg.
IBF Examination Boards and Industry Panels
IBF’s Examination Boards provide oversight on governance structure for the conduct of the regulatory and industry examinations to ensure their quality and integrity. It plays an important role in setting the overall direction and focus of the examinations. The Examination Industry Panels provide in-depth technical guidance and expertise on the examination content guide and advisory on the relevance of examination questions to ensure that the examinations remain practical, relevant and up-to-date.
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The full listing of members of the IBF Examination Boards and Industry Panels can be found at www.ibf.org.sg.
Trade unions
Another unique factor of IBF’s partnership model is its close collaboration with its tripartite partners. IBF is part of the Financial Sector Tripartite Committee (FSTC), which is a tripartite collaboration involving the MAS, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), trade unions and financial institutions to uplift the skills of workers in the financial sector and build a future-ready workforce. FSTC guides IBF’s work in fostering a workforce that can meet the changing needs of the financial sector.
IBF further cemented its collaboration with NTUC and the trade unions through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IBF, NTUC and seven key financial industry associations: The Association of Banks of Singapore (ABS), Association of Financial Advisors (AFAS), General Insurance Association Singapore (GIA), Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS), Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA), Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) and Singapore FinTech Association (SFA). The MOU signing held in August was witnessed by Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Board Member of the MAS, as well as MAS and the following unions: Singapore Insurance Employees Union (SIEU), Banking and Financial Services Union (BFSU) and the Singapore Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU).
The MOU aims to enhance sector-wide outreach, foster a coordinated approach to skills development and address sector-wide challenges. By creating a collaborative ecosystem, this initiative seeks to comprehensively support workforce development arising from business transformation in the financial sector, while ensuring that every worker is well supported amidst the transformation.
Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director of MAS, said: “The financial sector is undergoing significant change, driven by key structural drivers including AI, technology, innovation and sustainability. As financial institutions navigate these winds of change, business and workforce transformation must go hand in hand and the tripartite collaboration among NTUC and financial sector unions, IBF and industry associations can provide much-needed support for industry transformation efforts.”
Government agencies
IBF works closely with MAS on workforce development strategies, talent and leadership initiatives. In addition, IBF also partners with other government agencies, such as Workforce Singapore (WSG), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), to support the upskilling and reskilling of the financial sector workforce.
WSG also appointed IBF to administer Career Conversion Programmes (CCP) for the financial sector to support the transformation of jobs and to ensure the continued relevance of its workforce. As the appointed programme partner, IBF works with financial institutions to meet their manpower needs by reskilling mid-career new hires and existing employees for growth jobs.
“IBF is a key partner of WSG and beyond our current collaborations on programmes such as the CCP for Financial Services and the Technology in Finance Immersion Programme, we will continue to identify and develop new areas of collaboration in driving workforce transformation for in-demand areas such as Sustainable Finance and Generative AI. This underscores our shared commitment to developing the workforce of the financial sector in today’s rapidly evolving landscape,” says Dilys Boey, Chief Executive of Workforce Singapore. “We look forward to continued strong partnership to empower the next generation of financial sector leaders and professionals.”
IBF remains committed to working closely with all its partners to foster a skilled and resilient financial sector workforce and continue to forge new trails together.
