New financial body seeks to restore integrity

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) introduced its Future of Finance plan, to promote integrity in world finance, at its inaugural China Investment Conference on Saturday.

The CFA is a professional designation offered by the CFA Institute, the largest global association of investment professionals aimed at enhancing a fair and effective financial market. There are over 2,800 CFA charter holders in China today.

The Future of Finance was established over a year ago and has its roots in the financial crisis of 2008. Seeing the world economy brought to its knees by dishonest, unregulated financial behavior and lack of law enforcement, the CFA Institute began to look for solutions and options for a more credible financial mechanism.

"The CFA Institute believes that the global financial industry can be an extraordinary force for good," said Paul Smith, managing director of Asia Pacific at CFA Institute.

"As China plays a greater role in the global financial system, the demand for highly qualified finance professional increases. I look forward to closer collaboration with our member society CFA Society Beijing, local industry, universities, as well as regulators."

After interviews with its members, university partners and governments worldwide, the institute formulated the Future of Finance project. This has six categories: financial knowledge, putting investors first, transparency and fairness, retirement security, regulation and enforcement, and investment report principles.

"The CFA tries to set up a standard across the board in the financial industry," said Tony Tan, head of the Standards and Financial Market Integrity Division, Asia Pacific, CFA.