02 Aug 2011   

Finance and business professionals can now better leverage on opportunities in the burgeoning Islamic Finance market by obtaining qualifications specially structured for the established niche of the finance industry, offered at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS), the national accountancy body.

Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding, ICPAS’ Continuing Professional Education (CPE) division will offer the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Certificates in Islamic Finance. The courses are open to ICPAS members and the public. The qualifications are the CIMA Certificate in Islamic Commercial Law, Certificate in Islamic Banking and Takaful, Certificate in Islamic Capital Markets and Certificate in Accounting for Islamic Financial Institutions.

The certificates will provide course participants with knowledge on the commercial law underpinning Islamic finance, an understanding of the requirements for Shari’ah compliance and the regulations that govern Islamic finance; in-depth knowledge of the complexities of the contracts that underpin Shari’ah compliance; working knowledge of the Arabic terminology in Islamic Finance, as well as insight into the Islamic Finance reporting framework.

Dr. Robert Jelly, CIMA Executive Director, Education, said: “CIMA was the first chartered accounting body to recognise the need to develop Islamic finance skills in the workforce and as a consequence developed the CIMA Certificates in Islamic Finance. The Singapore Government has some time ago acknowledged the aspiration, as one of the world’s leading financial centres to support skills development in this area.

CIMA is delighted to be entering into this partnership with ICPAS to promote the CIMA Islamic Finance qualifications’ portfolio to its Members and to the wider public in the country through the signing of an MoU”.

Mr John Lim, ICPAS’ Head of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) division, said: “The CPE division has been expanding our course offerings to ensure we provide up-to-date, relevant programmes that meet the training needs of today’s accountancy and business professional. The certification courses will equip accounting and finance professionals for entry into Islamic Finance, a fast-growing sector which the Government aims to promote and build up as a global hub for Islamic capital markets products.”

To register for the CIMA Certificates on Islamic Finance or for enquiries, contact ICPAS CPE division at cpe@icpas.org.sg