The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is to introduce a global Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement for all members - 50% of them overseas - and include a requirement for compulsory ethics study.

The new CPD policy from 1 April will apply to all CISI members, both existing and new, working across every financial services specialism included in the professional body’s remit. The CISI has 40,000 members in 121 countries around the world and merged with the Institute of Financial Planning in the UK in November last year.

All CISI members, from Affiliate grade upwards, will be required to complete a minimum of 10 hours of CPD annually, of which one hour must be completed on the subject of Ethics.

Chartered members of the CISI already undertake 35 hours of CPD every year, as do holders of a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERSTM. They will now be required to complete three and a half hours of that 35 hours CPD on the subject of ethics.

The CISI says that the aim of the new CPD policy is to ensure that CISI members will meet the same CPD requirements to demonstrate professionalism and competence around the world.

The CISI requires:

· All CPD 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

· Learning objectives and learning outcomes must be completed for all CPD activities, demonstrating what has been learnt and its relevance to the role.

Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI and CISI chief executive said: “We are introducing these new CPD requirements to ensure that all our members, no matter what membership grade they are, job role they hold or jurisdiction they are working in, will be unified by meeting strict annual CPD standards.

“Our aim is to help our members demonstrate to consumers and the industry that they are committed to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.

“We are phasing in these new CPD requirements gradually, over a two year period, to ensure that we are allowing all our existing members time to get used to these new requirements. All members receive their own online CPD record, where all their CISI activities are automatically added.”

Members who join the CISI prior to 1 April need to start their CPD year no later than 31 March 2018 in order to meet the new mandatory CPD requirements deadline of 31 March 2019.