By KT Reporter
Banking practitioners in Uganda will soon be required to have a professional practising license as the industry climbs up the professionalism ladder.
This will be following in the footsteps of the legal, engineering, accountancy and medical industries whose professional standards are, by law, governed and protected by statutory bodies.
Consequently, the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services (UIBFS) will become the banking standards body established by an Act of Parliament when the Bill is enacted, according to Goretti Masadde, the Chief Executive Officer.
She says the old legal and regulatory frameworks can no longer cater for today’s challenges, and this has resulted in various “issues with today’s banker”, hence the need for the new developments to realign the profession.
She, however, says that it will also help the bankers who seek to move up the ladder from the low employment levels, which is currently a challenge.
She announced today the new logo of the rebranded UIBFS, which she says is aimed at aligning with the evolving environment of the industry, 57 years since it was first established as an examination centre.
At that time, the banking executives had to be otherwise certified by the Chartered Institute of Bankers in the UK, as the industry was dominated by foreign banks.
So, formerly Uganda Institute of Banking, it catered for the professional standards of bankers but has since expanded its role to target other areas in the financial industry, which include microfinance, insurance and others, according to Massade.
With the new logo and tagline: Learn, Transform, Lead, the rebranded Institute will take the lead not only in the financial industry but also the supporting Uganda’s economic growth.
The event preceded the 12th graduation of the institute that featured 358 students from nine different banking and finance fields.
The Governor of the Bank of Uganda, Michael Atingi-Ego, who is also the patron of the Institute, hailed the rebranding as presented, hoping that it would lead to the transformation that it promises, so that the banking industry becomes a professional and better place to be, for the sake of the economy.
In a statement read to him by the Executive Director, Financial Services, Richard Byarugaba, he hailed the ever-evolving training architecture at the Institute, which is based on research and the demand by the industry, saying that it was vital that the industry has a well-developed human capital base.
Michael Mugabi, the chairman of UIBFS, says the new logo, which features a flying crane, is in line with what the institute has been promoting: continued learning and growing, but also taking the lead in economic transformation.
He also told the graduates that their training was not just for piling up qualification papers, but to arm them to influence changes in the country for the better.
Following the enactment of the law, it means that those who will not possess the training or certification from the Institute will have challenges either getting into positions or maintaining the roles they currently have.
Fabian Kasi, the President of the Governing Council of the Institute and also Managing Director of Centenary Bank, said, heads of human resources in banks will soon be required to identify those who have the requirements as per the new regulations and those who do not, so that roles are filled by the qualified persons.
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