Chartered Corporate Secretaries Conclude September 2013 Examinations

Eighty five students at various levels of the Examinations just concluded their attempts to complete the examinations conducted by the Institute of Chartered Corporate Secretaries of Sri Lanka (ICCSSL), a professional body registered with the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission of Sri Lanka as an official Training Institute to conduct classes, examinations and award the prestigious Degree of Chartered Corporate Secretary.

Hitherto, those interested in the profession of a Chartered Corporate Secretary whose main function is to work as Board Secretary serving and advising the Board of Directors and handling corporate/ company secretarial work of a public/ private Company, state corporation or statutory body had to appear for the Examinations conducted by the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators of UK.

In 2010 the UK qualified Chartered Secretaries resident in Sri Lanka, considering the enormous cost ( approx. Rs. 500,000/-) to qualify as a Chartered Secretary, decided that the only solution was for Sri Lanka to have its own Institute. The ICCSSL was registered as a company limited by guarantee, with the objective of training, conducting examinations and awarding certificates for the future Corporate Secretaries of the country. The ICCSSL is also registered with the OPA ( Organisation of Professional Associations), the apex professional body of the professional institutions in the country and classified under the Group of Management Professionals in the OPA.

On its’ own initiative, the Institute has prepared a Draft Bill for incorporation by Act of Parliament. The draft Bill has been submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and is expected to be presented in Parliament shortly as a Private Member’s Bill.

Pending incorporation as a statutory body locally, the Institute has applied and been accepted as a member of the Corporate Secretaries International Association ( CISA) which is the world body of Corporate Secretaries.

The Institute is currently registering a new batch of students who will be preparing for t h e M a rch 2014 Examinations. The Headquarters of the ICCSSL is located at No. 546/ 6, Galle Road, Colombo 3.