The CISI was formed in 1992 as the Securities Institute by the members of the London Stock Exchange. It changed its name to the Securities and Investment Institute in November 2004. It became the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment when it was granted a Royal Charter in October 2009. In November 2015 the Institute of Financial Planning was formally merged into the CISI. In 2017, CISI, the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland formed the Chartered Body Alliance.
It is headquartered in London and has offices in Sri Lanka, India, The Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Spain and Kenya.[1]
The institute is a registered charity.
The CISI has five grades of membership: Affiliate, Student, Associate (ACSI), Chartered Member (MCSI), and Chartered Fellow (FCSI).
The institute offers qualifications, training and professional membership. As the main examining body for the industry, the Institute provides vocational qualifications. Over 40,000 CISI qualifications are taken every year in over 80 countries at Computer Based Test (CBT) centres worldwide. See Professional certification in financial services.
The institute is the pre-eminent Financial Planning professional body in the UK, holding the licence to award the globally recognised Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation.
Well known, is its CISI Diploma in Capital Markets (previously, SII Diploma). This is a globally recognised postgraduate finance qualification and covers the areas of securities, investment, compliance, derivatives, corporate finance and operations.[2]
It is aimed at practitioners working in wholesale securities markets.
The Diploma provides flexibility and choice, enabling candidates to concentrate on those topics relevant to their chosen career path; it comprises theoretical and practical knowledge, covering securities and financial markets, and then specific selected instruments, in a structured sequence.
Obtaining the CISI Diploma entitles candidates to join the CISI at MCSI Membership level.
See Stockbroker ยง United Kingdom.
Other similarly structured designations offered, also leading to MCSI status, are the Corporate Finance Qualification (CF),[3] in conjunction with ICAEW, and the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification (CWM).[4]
CISI also offers a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme to members of all levels of seniority, geographical location and industry specialisation. CISI produces publications and workbooks, runs conferences and seminars and in-house training courses.
The institute is the only professional body globally to mandate that its members have to sit an integrity test - Integrity Matters.
