Banking and finance

With the legacy of the 2008 global finance crisis still reverberating, amidst a swiftly shifting compliance and technological landscape, Hong Kong's banking and finance sectors are facing the challenge of attracting talent to future proof the industries.

"One of the major lessons that we learnt from the global financial crisis is that the banking industry cannot stay strong without the support of good talent," says Carrie Leung, CEO at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB). According to a talent development survey conducted last year by the HKIB, only 51 per cent of respondents aged between18-34 agreed that a career in the banking industry is appealing. "I believe that this may be partly due to the misperception about the banking industry formed after the global financial crisis," she says.

The HKIB believes this perception can be reversed by strengthening practitioners’ competencies. The HKIB is a programme administrator for the Enhanced Competency Framework (ECF), introduced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to standardise professional training in the industry.  Leung says the ECF sets out a series of common and transparent competency standards that enable effective training and professional development for practitioners and new entrants. The framework includes current hot topics such as Anti-money laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT).  

"The ECF is tailored to meet the training needs of the modern day banking," Leung says. With future training demand in mind, the HKIB has also launched a new Certified Banker (CB) professional qualification designed to help banking professionals succeed in a fast-changing banking environment. "In our view, the ECF is a building block of the CB programme," Leung adds.  "We are now working on a seamless integration of the ECF subjects with the CB programme."

She also believes  Hong Kong’s banking industry has an important role to play in the China-led  "Belt and Road Initiatives" (BRI), the Mainland's modernised vision for the ancient Silk Road, connecting Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa through investments in trade infrastructure. "Hong Kong as the largest offshore renminbi hub, with its unrivalled banking and finance infrastructure and free flow of capita can serve as the fundraising hub for numerous infrastructure projects," says Leung.

She adds, however, that education is of great importance for the initiative to be truly successful. "Many banking practitioners are still not very familiar with the BRI as well as the countries along the Belt and Road routes," notes Leung. To address, she suggests that industry seminars and even visits can help banking professional have a better understanding of the initiative, as well as opportunities the ambitious undertaking can provide for Hong Kong banks.