Certificate of Finance in International Trade (COFIT)

31.05.2013

 

 

Interview with Margrith Lutschg-Emmenegger FIMBank Group President and Erik Timmermanns, Secretary General International Factors Group

1. How did you develop the idea of this specialist educational programme?

Margrith:  FIMBank has always played an active role in providing training to its correspondent banks, particularly  in Africa and the Middle East. Our training sessions have always proven to be very successful. They actually provided us with the opportunity to build stronger relationships with our partners and served as a platform for trade finance experts and bankers to discuss and exchange ideas on trade finance. FIMBank wished to develop this concept further and offer the opportunity for wider participation and develop something which will enable the profession to become a career a first class career. However, we knew we could not do it on our own, and that is when we started looking for suitable international partners.

Erik: When approached by FIMBank, IFG was successfully running the third year of our highly acclaimed Academy programme, which is a comprehensive and integrated course on the theory and practice of factoring and commercial finance.  We immediately recognized the opportunity of integrating our academy course into a more comprehensive programme where our members would still have the choice to opt for the traditional one week programme or the full six week COFIT programme. As the recognized representative Trade Association for the Factoring and Asset Based Finance Industry, IFG is committed to developing people skills in this specialized finance industry and COFIT will serve as our new and unique channel.

2. What is the University of Malta’s involvement?

Margrith:  We agreed with our partner from the outset that it would be essential for the programme to have the unique University accreditation which does not exist yet, and therefore the essential partner would have to be a reputable university.  FIMBank is headquartered in Malta and our first port of call was the University of Malta. The University of Malta has been established since 1592 and is one of the oldest in the Mediterranean. There are at present over 11,000 students, including 650 international students, studying at this University. Its Rector and Dean of the Banking & Finance Department supported the idea with great enthusiasm and confirmed their willingness to build this new programme with us.

Erik: Apart from providing a world class faculty, COFIT now combines the expertise from three leading institutions.  This innovative programme provides a sound framework for those wishing to seek a career in this field, offering a unique educational experience, both theoretical and practical. Apart from this, successful students will also benefit from a University-accredited qualification equivalent to 30 ECTS credits – the first time ever..

3. Why do you think such a course is necessary for someone hoping to work in trade finance?

Margrith:  Persons hoping to work in this field will gain a solid foundation and understanding of trade finance from this programme. Even new entrants can benefit, career opportunities in trade continue to grow even during periods of economic downturn, and demand for capable and experienced professional in this field tends to remain high. The six-week curriculum is designed to provide participants with a wide range of competencies that will enable them to further their career in the corporate world. As said above, it is imperative for the Trade Finance world to develop career prospects for this important profession which does not yet have an MBA – hopefully this certification will develop into the much needed MBA for Trade Finance.

Erik: Those pursuing a successful career in trade finance should seek an industry-focused educational programme that will focus on the practical aspect of real life international trade finance scenarios and which will provide the tools to achieve professional development. This certificate programme will provide a sound framework for those wishing to pursue further their studies or seek a career in the field of trade finance. It includes a combination of theory and practice with over 200 class contact hours with diversified specialists within the field. 

4. What areas of trade finance will be covered?

Margrith:  COFIT focuses on the practical aspects of real life trade finance scenarios, skills that are needed in order to cope with the increasingly complex global trade finance scenarios. This certificate programme is designed for those seeking to specialize and become trade finance specialists and will include six modules, which include subjects ranging from international trade finance models, practical issues in trade finance, risk management, compliance, regulations, financial crime, payment instruments, Islamic finance and emerging markets, amongst others.

Erik: COFIT has been jointly developed by the partners in order to meet the demands of the commercial world and offer a platform from which participants can increase their understanding of all aspects of international trade, the import and export business, logistics and trade finance. COFIT incorporates the IFG Academy programme, which is the only international comprehensive and integrated programme on the theory and practice of factoring and commercial finance, and students wishing to enroll for the one week programme can now also benefit from a formal university qualification and gain 6 ECTS credits.

5. Do you intend to create other educational programmes?

Margrith:  As said above our plan is to develop this existing certificate programme, use the existing platform to develop a diploma, eventually a degree and finally a fully-fledged Masters programme. This is an ambitious target and will take years to develop but we are determined to work hard and build a sustainable structure for the programme in order to achieve the expected quality tuition standard and market recognition.

Erik:  This is only the beginning. We intend to take it step by step, starting off with this certificate programme, achieve recognition from the market and then as Margrith stated, develop it further.  What I can say is that initial market feedback has been extremely positive!

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