UOB launches finance academy for employees

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) has announced the launch of UOB Finance Academy, a dedicated training and development programme in Singapore focused on equipping all employees in the bank's finance function with the soft and technical skills required to become future leaders in their field.

The UOB Finance Academy, which was designed in-house, builds on Better U, the bank's group-wide flagship learning and development programme accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF).

Once members of the bank's finance team have completed Better U, they are able to progress through the UOB Finance Academy's structured three-month learning programme.

The academy enables participants to deepen their knowledge of banking - especially in areas such as risk management, regulation and liquidity management. Participants will also sharpen their financial acumen through modules that encourage an analytical approach to evaluating strategies and risks, as well as accounting and bank financial analysis. Through the UOB Finance Academy, participants may also choose to develop specialised skills in areas such as asset and liability management, and project management.

In addition, the academy will arm participants with technical skills such as advanced data analytics to reinforce their analytical skills in evaluating commercial/business strategies.

Moreover, participants will be able to cultivate soft skills necessary for them to communicate more effectively and to build stronger relationships with their stakeholders. "As the breadth of their roles expands and their careers progress, participants will undergo a combination of in-house leadership programmes and a selection of external modules led by executive education provider Duke Corporate Education - part of Duke University - to develop their leadership skills," UOB said.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

The inaugural cohort of the UOB Finance Academy will include all 230 employees in the bank's finance function in Singapore. At the end of their training, participants will receive a certificate jointly issued by UOB and the IBF. The training is approved under Workforce Singapore's Professional Conversion Programme.

UOB will launch the academy progressively for all finance professionals across the bank's global network from August this year.

UOB's group chief financial officer, Lee Wai Fai, noted that the role of a finance professional is changing as digital innovation impacts more areas of work. "The UOB Finance Academy charts clear and achievable milestones for our people in UOB's finance function to develop the necessary knowledge, mindset and skill sets to progress towards leadership roles in the finance industry."