Saudi’s Financial Academy aims to advance national talent, says MD

The Financial Academy was established as one of the Financial Sector Development Program’s initiatives, aiming to advance the technical knowledge and capabilities of the professionals, its managing director Mana Alkhamsan told Argaam.

“The academy seeks to provide world-class professional training services to the financial sector through conducting partnerships with local, regional and international expert houses in order to achieve the target objectives,” Alkhamsan said.

“The training programs will be available to all agencies and individuals, including those working in banking and financing, insurance, capital market, investment, risk management, and treasury, as well as legislation,” he added.

Alkhamsan also noted that the Financial Academy offers all the examinations of the Saudi regulatory agencies, namely Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the Capital Market Authority (CMA).

The exams include the Securities Rules and Regulations Exam, the Retail Banking Professional Foundation Certificate, and the Insurance Professional Foundation Exam.

The academy holds exam preparation programs for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and hosts the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) exams.

Recently, the academy launched board governance training program in cooperation with the Board Directors Institute, he added.

As for the training programs for the remainder of 2019, the Financial Academy will hold around 124 training programs, and their details can be found on the academy’s website http://www.fa.org.sa/

“The academy adopts special standards when it comes to hiring experts not just trainers, as it works with legislative and supervisory agencies to specify the needed expertise in technical fields such as technical analysis and basic analysis,” Alkhamsan said, pointing out that “the academy is non-profit, which helps it provide competitive prices compared to the private training sector.”

“Most our prices are competitive with very few exceptions of training programs provided by big international firms, as the academy is keen to provide training programs that effectively meet the needs of the financial sector (individuals and agencies), through collaborating with excellent international entities. Quality means a lot to the academy, especially when it comes to building the capabilities of national talents,” Alkhamsan said.

The managing director also noted that the academy provides meeting rooms for the financial committees of various entities. These committees help with identifying the sector’s training needs, and they also share their views on training programs, examinations, and ways of improvement.

The academy has five main objectives:

- Instilling trust in the sector through internationally recognized and locally adapted learning and development solutions that promote professional excellence and ethical practice.

- Setting the professional standards, certifications, and content that meets the learning and training needs of sector professionals and facilitate their career development.

- Promoting the capabilities of financial sector professionals in priority fields by designing and providing specialized programs that fill knowledge and competency gaps.

- Promoting continued learning and strengthen relationships with the sector leaders and professionals to support human capital development through research and events.

- Adopting a flexible operating model responsive to sector needs and emerging trends.