Compliance, Risk & Governance

In an age where financial crises recur, regulations are promulgated at increasing rates, and fines and penalties continue to rise with corporate and individual accountability of officers, it is fundamental to understand correct governance and how to inculcate a culture of compliance and ethical conduct in financial services firms. 

This course enables an understanding of the major current compliance risks and topics and the drivers and evolution of these risks over time. Participants will understand the core standards and regulatory expectations with regard to corporate governance, conduct and compliance and how these standards need to be operationalized in a corporate environment. Case studies from real life will be covered including management and mismanagement of compliance risks, flaws in processes and culture including the range of questionable/ unethical/ illegal behavioural spectrum. The architecture and processes necessary to continuously assess and mitigate compliance risks, detect, investigate and enforce standards and key principles, tools and techniques to continuously improve these processes will be addressed

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Core FAA CPD : 13

Core SFA CPD : 13

Classroom Hours : 13

Online Hours : 3

In an evolving and increasingly complex banking and financial services environment, the requirements and demands for skilled compliance professionals have increased proportionately. It is imperative to have the knowledge and leadership to develop, drive and establish the organisation’s compliance strategy aligned with the firm strategy, programme and overall direction. 

“Seeing round the bends” is challenging. Given the rapidly changing regulatory, business and competitive landscape, the constant review of business operating processes is required to meet new challenges brought about by the increasingly sophisticated nature of financial crimes, client behaviours, and new regulatory demands and expectations.  As financial services are global, and borderless whereas rules, regulations and regulatory requirements are jurisdictional, an analysis, stakeholder management and decision-making factoring multiple vectors is required. 

Taught by experienced industry practitioners, this module is designed to provide the understanding, framework, principles, tools and methodologies to derive and deliver the necessary compliance policies, procedures and best practices for a firm.

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Classroom Hours : 13

Online Hours : 3

Over the past decades, the importance of compliance within the financial industry has increased year over year and legal, compliance and regulatory functions saw respective growth in most organisations. This significance resulted in a relevant bottom-line impact for most financial institutions and therefore, the quest for efficiency increase in compliance has become a key goal for many organisations. Today’s technologies are able to transform many traditional legal and compliance tasks but require the knowledge to understand technologies and select appropriate tools for distinct tasks.

This module aims to provide participants with the skills to assess different technologies for different compliance tasks critically, define respective business requirements, and effectively project manage, drive and implement respective compliance and regulatory technology tools in an organisation.

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Classroom Hours : 13

Financial services are evolving from traditional banks to challenger banks to digital banks and the entire spectrum. A sound understanding of the regulatory and licensing framework, regulatory instruments, current regulations, and evolving banking landscape is critical for operating in the financial services industry. Appreciating the policy intent, familiarity with current and going forward regulatory considerations and supervisory approach is essential to managing compliance risks.

Taught by experienced industry leaders, this programme addresses the legal and regulatory framework and regulatory expectations for retail banking, fintech and digital banking, covering subjects such as consumer protection, data protection, outsourcing, cyber resilience, cross-border services, payment services and regulations around financial and non-financial businesses.  With case studies utilising an applied and practice-based approach, the programme is designed to spur the development of critical thinking for the practical application of these topics in the relevant context.

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Core FAA CPD : 13

Core SFA CPD : 13

Classroom Hours : 13

Private banking and wealth management are a substantive sector within financial services. The wide range of services, special risks and sensitivities create specific challenges in dealing with private clients. This course aims at equipping participants with a clear understanding of the challenges as well as relevant regulations and regulatory expectations in wealth management and the role of different actors in this space. This includes the different business models and regulations applicable for discretionary versus advisory asset management, execution only services, use of external asset managers and risk management throughout the lifecycle of private clients.

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Core FAA CPD : 6.5

Core SFA CPD : 6.5

Classroom Hours : 13

Given that these markets are highly regulated, having a good understanding of the rules and regulations governing this industry is vital. This includes ensuring institutions act in the best interests of clients, making required disclosures more accessible and understandable, promoting ethical culture and conduct. Given technological changes, the advent of digital assets and digitisation of payments, fund transfers and processes, promulgation of new regulations such as payment services regulations, the regulatory landscape is also evolving rapidly. 

This module will enable participants to have a sound appreciation of wholesale banking and capital markets – what they are, why they require regulation, and the related market discipline mechanisms. It will facilitate a practical grasp of how to operationalise capital markets business and market conduct rules, interpreting, executing and documenting such requirements in relevant policies and procedures and evaluating compliance with such policies. It will equip participants with how to provide advice on issues and developments in existing and new business models given the changing technology and digital landscape, including on a cross-border basis. 

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Core FAA CPD : 13

Core SFA CPD : 13

Classroom Hours : 13

The global asset management industry crossed US$100 trillion in 2020, with Singapore’s assets under management growing 17% to US$3.5 trillion. Managers across traditional and alternative sectors, as well as leading global public owners, continued to anchor their investment teas in Singapore to tap the region’s growth opportunities and to domicile their investment funds in Singapore. From index funds, investment-linked funds, and sector/geographic funds, the range of products has expanded rapidly to Shariah-compliant funds, ESG funds, and digital token funds. 

With the growth of such products and funds, compliance managers should expect to wrestle with considerations and challenges associated with product structuring and distribution, such as regulatory and licensing requirements, sales and marketing restrictions, product risk assessments, product registrations, ongoing compliance/reporting obligations, due diligence assessment and ongoing monitoring of distribution channels, and cross-border concerns. For financial advisory firms, considerations and challenges also include understanding licensing requirements on financial advisory, suitability assessment and concerns about conflicts of interest.

This module addresses the above and aims to equip participants with the relevant skills to understand and manage compliance risks in the asset management and financial advisory services industry in line with regulatory expectations. 

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Core FAA CPD : 8

Core SFA CPD : 8

Classroom Hours : 13

Compliance managers play a vital role in their respective organisations. They not only assist to develop and implement control frameworks within institutions but also commonly play a key role in handling serious compliance incidents when they arise. Having a clear understanding of the financial services industry’s best practices and regulations when it comes to handling serious compliance incidents is a critical prerequisite for operating in the industry in order to meet the expectations of regulators. Deriving lessons learnt from such incidents, and identifying initiatives for improvements to processes and controls, are important. As disciplinary sanctions and regulatory enforcement flow from such incidents, it is important to establish appropriate people performance measures so disciplinary measures are fair and proportionate

 This module aims to establish processes and procedures for handling serious compliance incidents in the financial services industry in line with regulatory expectations. Scope includes detecting, investigating, escalating and reporting serious compliance incidents as well as disciplinary sanctions for serious compliance breaches. The module addresses initiatives for process and controls improvement from lessons learnt in handling such incidents, and alignment and assessment of people performance indicators accordingly. 

Total Training Duration / CPD Hours : 13

Classroom Hours : 13