CISI & ICSI Partnership
1. What is the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment?
Formed by members of the London Stock Exchange, The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is UK's largest and most widely respected professional body that offers specialized qualifications and membership to practitioners in the financial services industry. CISI has three main areas of focus:
- To help individuals attain high levels of competence
- To help members maintain and develop their skills and competences
- To promote the highest levels of personal behaviour and integrity.
Today, CISI enjoys industry-wide acceptance world-over, with almost all of the top leading global banks and corporates signing up to CISI qualifications. In the past few years, CISI has secured formal regulatory recognition for its qualifications in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and other parts of the Middle East as well. CISI offers a wide ranging program of qualification for the financial services industry covering sectors like capital markets, commodity markets, investment banking, wealth/ fund management and Islamic finance. These qualifications range from introductory qualifications for new recruits to the financial services industry to specialized certificates, advanced certificates and the Institute's advanced & diploma/ masters programme.
CISI has over 45,000 examinations taken each year, with over 40,000 individual members who benefit from the Institute‘s programme of professional and social events. In addition, the Institute produces publications including Workbooks and e-learning tools and runs a number of widely respected and well-attended conferences and seminars. To know more about the Securities and Investment Institute, please visit the About Us page of www.cisi.org
2. Why has the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment partnered with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)?
- ICSI & CISI are strong advocates of Good Corporate Governance and Integrity. This is an important strategic alliance between two professional bodies focusing on similar themes of promoting trust and highest levels of personal behaviour and integrity.
- This partnership has been developed so that ICSI members who work, or have an interest, in the securities and investment industry will now be given clear guidelines on the CISI qualifications and membership opportunities that are available to them for their career progression within the securities and investment industry.
- This collaboration entitles ICSI members to secure Associate membership (ACSI) with CISI and enjoys the benefits of global membership.
3. What are the ranges of qualifications being offered by CISI UK?
The CISI is widely acknowledged as the main provider of qualifications for the securities and investment industry. It offers a wide ranging programme of qualifications for employees working in – or aspiring to work in - the financial services industry. The qualifications range from Introduction to Investment for new recruits to the industry, to the CISI Diploma – the qualification for senior practitioners. Diverse ranges of technical examination exist for different specialist areas within the financial service sector. The following table provides an overview of the various courses CISI offers:
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Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Qualifications Structure |
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Introduction to Investment: The Foundation Qualification |
Foundation Level |
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IT in Investment Operations (ITIO ) |
Professional / Regulatory/ ‘Qualifying’ examinations |
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Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ) |
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International Certificate in Financial Advice (ICFA) |
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Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) |
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CISI Certificate in Corporate Finance |
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CISI Certificate Programme: Certificate in Derivatives Certificate in Financial Derivatives Certificate in Investment Management Certificate in Securities * * Retail version of certificate available |
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Advanced Certificate in: Operational Risk Global Securities Operations Investment Schemes Administration |
Advanced Examinations |
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Specialist Diplomas in: Investment Compliance Investment Operations |
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Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Diploma |
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CISI Masters Programme (Wealth Management) |
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Please refer to Annexure 2 for an overview of activities undertaken in the investment sector of the financial services industry and the associated CISI qualification or examination unit. The table will navigate you through the recommended qualifications to achieve competence and support career progression.
4. How relevant are CISI qualifications in India?
Financial Services continue to grow in India, driven by domestic demand, international necessity and increasing consumer & product sophistication. A range of international institutions, from established and largely reputed Investment Banks & Finance companies have already established operation in India. By pursuing CISI specified qualifications the candidate is equipped with a global perspective thereby enhancing his or her proficiency to achieve core competence and foster strong careers.
- Is there any exemptions to ICSI Members?
(i) CISI will give a credit for the Introduction to Investment or International Introduction to Investment unit of its Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ) for ICSI candidates who have passed Papers 1 and 4 of the ICSI ‘Executive Programme Examination’
(ii) ICSI members who pass two further IAQ units will be awarded an International Investment Administration Qualification.
(iii) To request an exemption please tick the relevant box on the ICSI Examination Entry forms and includes a certified copy of the ICSI Examination certificate. Note – there is a £10 (as against to £50) fee payable to CISI in order to process the credit for an exemption.
For further queries please contact ICSIqualification @ cisi.org
6. Are any discount & benefits on CISI Qualifications available to ICSI members and student members?
As part of this partnership, CISI has agreed to offer ICSI members and student members, a special discount on its International examination prices for all CISI qualifications included in the MOU signed between CISI and ICSI:
- ICSI Members are entitled to a £5 discount on the International examination price per unit/module;
- Student Members of the ICSI are entitled to a 30% discount on the International examination price per unit/ module;
- All candidates registering for CISI examinations are offered one year’s free student membership with the Institute
- The list of student membership benefits are listed in Annexure 4.
- Candidates enrolling for CISI examinations in India receive an electronic workbook as part of their examination fee and a hard copy workbook for all CISI Diploma examinations.
7. How do ICSI members register for these qualifications?
(i) To register for CISI qualifications, ICSI candidates should complete the CISI Examinations Entry form that can be downloaded from the CISI website as follows:
https://www.CISI.org.uk/web5/infopool.nsf/HTML/iCountry_India
The application complete is all respects, including your ICSI membership number or student reference number should be sent to CISI either by:
- Fax on 022 40919499 or
- Scan the copy and forward the application to ICSIqualifications @ cisi.org
Please note: Additionally to the above, if the payment of examination and/ or exemption fees is made by demand draft, the demand draft together with a copy of the application form will need to be posted to CISI at the following address:
Client Services Department
Securities and Investment Institute
8 Eastcheap
London EC3M 1AE
United Kingdom
Please note candidates are also required to pay the requisite one time registration fee of ₤40.
(ii) The Examination Entry form with a full list of the discounted international examination prices available on CISI qualifications to ICSI members and student members is available at Annexure 1
(iii) Subject to verification of ICSI membership being received by CISI from ICSI, the application would be processed within 5 working days. The registered candidates would get a confirmatory email from CISI Client Services Department giving them details of their student membership number and password. PDF version of the workbook would be made available to candidate within the next 5 working days.
Pleas note - For all CISI Diploma modules, the hardcopy workbooks would be made available to the candidate within the next 15 working days.
(iv) After registering for the examination, ICSI candidates will also be emailed the Qualification Registration Form (QRF) to complete the registration process. This allows candidates to receive their official confirmation of examination results and the formal CISI Certificate. The QRF can also be completed on-line, and the link to it is as follows: https://www.secinst.co.uk/bookmark/logingenericform.aspx?form=19394285
(v) The entire processing of the QRF and the CISI Examinations Entry Form will be done by CISI in London. If you have questions on the registration procedure or need more information on CISI qualifications, members are requested to communicate directly with CISI at the following dedicated email id created for this purpose:
8. How do ICSI members study for CISI qualifications?
In addition to the comprehensive study workbooks, CISI also produces a number of e-learning and a Revision Express tool for its Introduction to Investment and IAQ examinations.
A number of sample questions for revision & an online ‘Candidate Common room’ designed to help students to find useful pages as they get on their studies available at: : https://www.secinst.co.uk/bookmark/genericform.aspx?form=29848780&URL=candcomnew
9 Recommended Study Hours
CISI suggest stipulated self study hours for respective modules depending on the candidate’s requirement. Although it is not mandatory, it surely yields desired results considering the examination being of a competitive level. Please find the details at Annexure 3.
10. How, where and when are exams conducted?
i] CISI Certificate Programmes: All CISI certificate examinations are conducted throughout the year at Prometric test centres in India. Centres are located at Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkatta. Candidates should specify their choice of centre in the Examination Entry Form.
ii] CISI Advanced, Diploma & the Masters (narrative) programmes: These examinations are conducted twice in a year i.e. June and December at British Council Centres. Candidates should refer to the CISI website at: https://www.secinst.co.uk/bookmark/genericform.aspx?form=29848780&URL=Diploma
Please note: there is a local fee payable towards examination centre charges directly by candidates to the British Council for all CISI narrative examinations.
11. Is there any class room training provided by CISI?
Candidates wishing to follow classroom training sessions prior to taking the examination may do so through ICSI’s Centre for Corporate Research and Training. Please contact the ICSI Centre for more details on training.
12. For further information and general enquiries:
Please email: ICSIqualifications @ cisi.org
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