Standard Chartered ‘Embraces’ FISD Data Training

“At FISD, we have been talking at length with our contacts about incorporating the FIA certification as part of their staff development programs for their market data teams,” says David Anderson, program director at FISD and director of Atradia Consulting. “Standard Chartered has embraced that concept, and is looking to use it to bring staff up to speed on market data across different offices in the region, outside its Singapore headquarters.”

The bank has several offshore sites in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), India (Chennai) and China (Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area) that house operations teams providing 24/7 support and technical changes to market data platforms, as well as teams responsible for procurement, vendor reporting and vendor management.

However, staff in these locations typically have less experience of the market data industry than those in the bank’s core market data management team, or may even have no formal training in finance or market data and usually have to learn about the industry on the job.

“There’s a lot of value in understanding the history of the market data industry and how it got to where it is today. If you hire someone with five or 10 years in the market data industry, they have that experience. But someone who works away from the trading floor in Kuala Lumpur won’t necessary have that same level of experience,” Anderson says. “This training doesn’t replace those years of experience, but it takes people who are not familiar with this area and gives them a good grounding.”

The training will utilize online training courses provided by UK-based e-learning company Finance Modules, which allows users to complete the FIA syllabus whenever and wherever suits them, without the cost and hassle of scheduling formal training sessions and having a qualified trainer travel between multiple locations.

“E-learning has created more flexible ways of learning. Of course, anyone who is able to go to classroom training will get more interaction from the trainer. But, especially in remote areas, getting a trainer can be difficult. And it’s not just the cost of training that’s a challenge: firms can’t afford to have all their people away at the same time,” Anderson says.

After completing the training, users will also be able to complete the certification test online—though they must reserve a time to attend a specific examination center—run by partners of Phoenix, Ariz.-based online testing provider Kryterion, which administers the certification process. The test comprises 150 multiple choice questions, over a period of up to two hours and 40 minutes. Kriterion has test centers in all three locations where Standard Chartered has operations staff.