News & Events

Training the necessary talent

 

THE Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), in collaboration with industry partners, recently launched a specialised and structured programme to attract and train 1,000 graduates as licensed representatives for the capital market in the next three years.

The Graduate Representative Programme 1,000 (GRP1000) was announced by the Prime Minister in the 2013 Budget.

The initiative is part of the SC’s ongoing effort to develop skills and capacity of the industry to drive further growth in the capital market.

GRP1000 is funded by the Capital Market Development Fund and jointly implemented by the SC and licensed capital market intermediaries.

More than 36 leading local and foreign investment banks and brokerage firms have signed up as participating partners of GRP1000.

The selected GRP1000 graduates will go through a three-stage programme covering a pre-employment preparatory course, a structured and customised training curriculum, which focuses on knowledge and skills specific to the capital market, including a specific module to prepare the graduates for the licensing examinations relevant to securities and derivatives dealing.

After becoming licensed representatives, the GRP1000 participants will continue to be provided with further structured learning opportunities provided by their employers as part of their post-licensing professional development.

“The SC engaged with the industry to identify their needs to support growth over the medium to long- term horizon.

“GRP1000 is a specifically designed programme to address the capacity requirements of the industry.

“This initiative will expand the supply of new licensed representatives with specialised skills, through this structured career development programme,” said SC chairman Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh, while delivering his opening remarks at the launch event.

Malaysia’s capital market is expected to grow to RM4.5tril by 2020 from its current size of RM2.6tril, with the securities and derivatives market being a major component of the capital market.

“The Government recognises the importance of having a sufficient pool of talent to support Malaysia’s economic growth at both the international and domestic level.

“It is also important for us to bring in young talent to continuously drive innovation for greater economic development,” said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah in his keynote address.

The SC carried out a survey with investment banks and brokerage firms earlier this year to estimate the capacity requirement in the securities and derivatives market.

Based on the survey, an additional 2,500 workers, with one third of them consisting of people with specialised qualifications, are required to support the growth projected for the next three years.

GRP1000 is expected to play a key role in fulfilling the capacity gap by supplying skilled and knowledgeable young professionals to the capital market.