CIIF confident programme can spur qualified Islamic finance talents

KUALA LUMPUR: The Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF) is optimistic that its Chartered Professional in Islamic Finance (CPIF) programme will be able to spur the development of the next wave of qualified Islamic finance talents to meet the ever-evolving needs of the industry.

Chief executive officer Dr Azura Othman said for the first year, the institute aimed to enrol 100 candidates for CPIF which roughly translated to 20 to 40 enrolments for each intake in January, May and September based on the CIIF’s strategy of targeting institutional enrolments.

“The institute already onboarded the initial batch of 20 candidates, including those from FWD Takaful and the recipients of the CPIF (Takaful) Scholarship and Bursary programme,” she told Bernama after the virtual official launch of CPIF.

She said prior to the official launching, CIIF members who have been accredited through several initial initiatives had already obtained the CPIF qualifications.

“To date, we have a total of 514 members with the CPIF designation, with a further 13 members who are fellow CPIF holders.

“Of the 514 members, we have 26 members from the pilot CPIF batch in collaboration with Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd (Bank Rakyat) who had recently completed the full programme,” she said, adding another 27 members from the first full CPIF batch with Bank Rakyat were expected to complete their qualification very soon.

Earlier in her speech, Azura said by joining the programme, those who are interested would be welcomed as a member of the institute and able to constantly update their knowledge through CIIF’s various Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes as well as guided by professional standards.

“Developed in collaboration with leading academics and industry experts, the CPIF is not only promoting the development of well-rounded talents in the Islamic finance industry but will also magnify the status of the CIIF as an emerging centre of excellence in the region.

“Our journey of nearly three years of CPIF development included a pilot project with Bank Rakyat through its innovative management trainee programme called ‘The Islamic Banker’,” she said.

She added that CIIF had also collaborated with the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance, Universiti Utara Malaysia and a selected team of technical reviewers, who are industry practitioners and experts in their own field.

CPIF is a qualification for industry practitioners consisting of four levels covering a wide range of subjects, including Shariah, structuring products, enterprise risk management, strategic management, legal and governance, as well as audit and compliance. — Bernama