CMA CEO Paul Muthaura revealed that Kenya emerged 6th after UAE, India, Cyprus, Spain and South Africa in the exam meant for securities, investment, wealth and financial planning professionals. Kenya recorded a pass rate of 75% against a global average of 58%.
The number of candidates taking the exam in the country has grown significantly from 35 in 2015 to 559 in 2016 and 1,241 as of December 31st, 2017.
Formed in 1992 by London Stock Exchange practitioners, CISI exam has a global community of circa 45,000 members in 104 countries and in 2017 more than 40,000 CISI exams were sat in 80 countries, 15,000 taken outside the UK.
As part of its drive to enhance the positioning of Kenya as a premier investment destination, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) launched international certification standards for practitioners in the capital markets industry in 2016. The launch was the product of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) in September 2014. The MOU was aimed at professionalizing the industry through certification, the effective combination of knowledge, skills, and behaviour.