08 Sep FSA Propose Extending Examinations to Cover Standards to be set by RDR

According to the Financial Times, the Financial Services Authority has announced a proposal to extend the examination standards for managing investments to include modules that will benefit future students as the RDR is set to be put in place. They propose two new standards covering "investment principles and risk" and "personal taxation." The quarterly paper releases by the FSA also proposed that the existing standard for the UK's financial services industry should be changed to fit more in line with the RDR. These changes, the regular said, will bring further alignment between the various examination standards. Additionally they also want to examination standards to include mention of penny shares, contracts for difference and spread betting, land banking and enterprise investment schemes (EIS). Finally the group will also be adding a pair of new qualifications to its sourcebook. They are: the Calibrand/SQA diploma in professional financial advice, and the University Centre at Blackburn College's foundation degree award in financial services.