Continuous Professional Development Program ( CPD)

This policy relates to the UIBFS Continuous Professional Development (CPD) requirements and the relevance of CPD for members, including recommended and unacceptable CPD.

• UIBFS CPD Requirements

UIBFS shall implement mandatory CPD for all members (excluding Students and Honorary Fellows).  Member CPD requirements are set below.

UIBFS CPD REQUIREMENT PER MEMBER CATEGORY:

1.1   On an annual basis, Affiliates  are required to complete  20 CPD hours,  Affiliate Professional – 25 CPD  hours and Certificated Professional – 30 CPD hours.  In all these categories 5 hours of the CPD is required to be completed in Ethics and Integrity, which can be structured or unstructured.

1.2  On an annual basis , Associates, Members and  Fellows are all required to complete 35 CPD hours, 5 hours of this CPD is required to be completed in Ethics and integrity, which can also be structured or unstructured.

1.3 All CPDs must be recorded on the UIBFS Online CPD System. Members will be required to record their CPD on the UIBFS Scheme and reflect on their learning within their learning objectives and outcomes.

1.4  CPDs undertaken must be relevant to the member’s current role and any anticipated changes to that role.  All CPD recorded, as Structured is required to be evidenced and 30 mins or more in duration to be considered as structured learning.

1.5  Members are reminded to ensure they also meet their  own internal CPD requirements as these would supersede the UIBFS  requirements if the  CPD requirements set, are higher.

1.6. Members must note that CPD requirements may change, due to changes in legislation/ regulation within the financial services industry set by regulators or changes set and determined by the UIBFS Board of Directors.

• Recommended CPD Guidelines for Members

The UIBFS CPD programme is twofold; structured programmes which are mandatory and unstructured programmes and both programs shall be recognized in earning CPD Units.

A Structured CPD course is any form of formal learning activity that is designed to achieve specific learning outcomes and is capable of being objectively verified by a competent source. The examples of evidence that could be used for verification purposes include confirmation of participation by a provider, instructor or employer, assessment of learning outcomes achieved, examination results transcript and publication of a professional article. Structured Learning must be a minimum of 30 minutes.

An Unstructured CPD course is any informal learning activity where the focus is on knowledge sharing.

Such learning activities may be measurable in terms of hours, but may not be verifiable. These activities also contribute to the development and maintenance of professional competence, but would not be considered to form part of the prescribed quantum of structured CPD.

Credit hours will apply to structured and unstructured CPD Programmes and shall be earned in the following ways:

Structured Learning Activities

3.0  Inadmissible CPD:

There are a number of activities that cannot be recorded as CPD, which are listed below:

• Appraisals / one-to-ones / performance reviews
• Meetings where no measurable learning has taken place
• CPD undertook that does not cover financial related subjects
• Activities that are part of the job role, rather than a learning activity
• Social events

4.0 Implementation of the CPD Programme:

The implementation of this CPD program will be done in January every year. The Membership & Business Development Department and Training Department will oversee the implementation of the CPD Programme. Members shall be required to submit online or record all the learning and development activities that they have undertaken over the membership year; whether completed with UIBFS, through other organizations, or even activities they have done on their own. Once they have completed a particular CPD year and submitted all the CPD records, they shall receive a CPD certificate as proof of commitment to ongoing development.

5.0  CPD Submission Timelines and Sanctions:

1. A member submits CPD Records by 31^st December every year
2. The Institute evaluates and responds to members by 31^st March
3. A notification is issued to a member who fails to submit by 31^st
4. Such a member will be required to carry over and take the cumulative CPDs in the next year.
5. A member who receives a cumulative of 2 notifications may forfeit their membership or

membership level or have to defend it to the Disciplinary Committee panel

6.0  CPD  Audit and Monitoring

1. All members using the UIBFS CPD Scheme that successfully complete their CPD can be randomly selected for audit. UIBFS shall select up to 10% of its members for audit annually. A sample of Members subject to mandatory CPD will be randomly selected each year for review. Members selected for review will need to demonstrate their compliance with the CPD requirements and will be asked to provide evidence of learning activities or verification of the competencies they have developed through their chosen CPD activities.
2. Members who have not complied with the CPD requirements will be given a verbal warning and additional time may be given to comply with the requirements.

Where a Member fails to complete the CPD requirements within the extended time allowed, the matter will be referred to the UIBFS Management Committee, which shall determine the course of action to be taken. The UIBFS Management Committee may refer cases where willful and persistent non-compliance is suspected to the Membership & Education Board Committee, which may lead to disciplinary action.

The Uganda Institute of Banking & Financial Services will evaluate and verify all unstructured activities undertaken by every member with a view to establishing the veracity or otherwise of the said activity. As a result, members shall be advised to submit their attendance notification slips of all the CPDs organized by the Institute. The Institute will also keep a “register” of attendance on each CPD. Any member who attends any CPD program not organised by the Institute would be required to furnish the Secretariat with the following information:

1. Topic
2. Duration
3. Resource Person
4. The Organiser

   8.0  Ethics and Integrity

• All members will sign and be required to adhere to the Professional Code of Conduct, non adherence will invoke disciplinary action, hearing, and suspension / dismissal where appropriate
• Action taken will be communicated to the industry
• At least 5 of the annual member CPDs must be in ethics and Integrity

   9.0  UIBFS  Definitions:

CPD is the continuing professional development upon meeting initial competence requirements. Members should maintain the knowledge and skills required to undertake their daily roles by completing CPD. CPD should include technical knowledge and its application, skills, and expertise, and changes in the market and products, legislation, and regulation in the area or their work.

 Ethics CPD may include elements of CPD on risk, regulation, and integrity if they include learning which focuses on individual behavior, risk assessment, and/or decision making, in which case the CPD will be accepted towards the member’s ethics CPD target.

Member: For the purposes of this policy, the meaning of members, includes all members excluding students and Honorary Fellows.

UIBFS  CPD Scheme is the  CPD recording system that enables members to record their CPD and maintain their records. Available to all members for free.

Structured CPD is a planned activity undertaken for the express purpose of learning. Structured learning must be 30 minutes or more to be recorded as Structured and be verifiable.

Verifiable CPD is CPD where an individual is able to obtain third-party verification that they have undertaken the CPD activity. A full list of what the UIBFS will accept as evidence can be found on the UIBFS Membership Portal/website at:  www.sms.uibfs.or.ug

Unstructured CPD is an activity that is unplanned with no predetermined learning objective or outcome i.e. reading or CPD that doesn’t meet the minimum 30 minutes required for Structured Learning.

Soft Skills are personal qualities and attitudes that can help you to work well with others and some of these activities normally include training to improve; communication, decision making, leadership, problem-solving skills.

Research is the systematic study of varied sources with the specific purpose of advancing knowledge to assist in the development of a project or writing of an article or presentation.

Certificate of Professionalism is a certificate offered to members to confirm competence, continual professional development and professionalism