KUALA LUMPUR: The fast-changing financial industry has brought with it new areas of governance and strategy that requires the industry to adapt quickly.

In view of this, the Securities Industry Development Corp (SIDC) will be focusing its Advanced Business Management Programme (ABMP) this year on issues pertaining to these two areas.

“These are issues that continue to be a priority for the C-suite people in leading their business effectively,” SIDC chief executive officer (CEO) Azman Hisham Che Doi told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview.

C-suite refers to senior executives, such as CEOs, chief operating officers and chief financial officers.

“Some of the areas we will be touching on in the ABMP are the best practices in steering a business, governance at the board level and value creation for your business.

“We will also look at ways to direct a company’s performance towards long-term goals, transforming the business portfolio and adapting to changes in the industry,” he said.

The ABMP, launched in 2007, is targeted at senior legislators and leaders in the financial industry, providing participants with relevant solutions in formulating and implementing strategy, risk management and innovation processes.

It has received “good to excellent” overall ratings since its inception and positive feedback from all 95 senior regulators and leaders in the financial industry who had attended the programme.

This year, the programme will feature Professor Didier Cossin and Professor Salvatore Cantale, both from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) as well as IMD director for Southeast Asia Professor Margaret Cording, who was previously at the University of Virginia.

The three-day programme will be held from May 25 to 27 at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The SIDC was set up as the Securities Commission’s (SC) learning and development arm and was incorporated in 2007.

The corporation has several successful training programmes under its belt, one of which has been able to bridge the competency gap between fresh graduates and the needs of the financial industry.

Azman said one such programme is the two-month Islamic Capital Market Graduate Training Scheme (ICMGTS), where 85% of its past participants have been hired by the industry.

The ICMGTS is the SC’s talent pipeline programme to develop entry-level graduates for careers in the Islamic capital market. The SIDC has so far trained more than 400 people since the programme’s inception in 2009, conducting training for two batches of students each year, he said.

Another of the SIDC’s suite of training programmes, the Industry Transformation Initiative, seeks to enhance the skills of market practitioners in the capital market, such as dealer representatives and fund managers, said Azman.

“Things are changing rapidly. The market is growing fast and becoming more sophisticated,” he said.

“We want to add value to our participants, so that they in turn can provide better services to their clients,” he added.

Azman also said the SIDC is currently working on an industry competency framework that will serve as a guide for the capital market industry to raise human capital standards and support the creation of competent talent for the industry.

“It will look at the competencies needed to effectively perform their job functions in the capital market, including regulatory, technical and behavioural skills,” he said.

Azman said the framework is targeted to be completed by the second quarter of next year as it will require a rigorous process, including engagement with industry players to ensure that it is comprehensive and of value to the industry.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 11, 2015.