Course Outline

Introduction
• Description of the essential operational concepts
• An introduction to the life cycle of a transaction
• The ways a typical securities house is structured

Reference Data Management
• The importance of accurate and secure information on securities, counterparties and clients
• The impact on operations
• Sources of reference data

Security Forms & Types of Transactions
• Operational aspects of bearer and registered securities
• The different types of transaction
• Calculation of transaction cash amounts including accrued interest on bonds

Role of the Custodian & Safe Custody
• Describe the safekeeping of securities and cash
• The regulatory requirements
• The role of the custodian

Life Cycle of a Trade - Pre Settlement
• Confirmation of transactions with counterparties
• Reporting to local regulator
• Preparing delivery/receipt/payment instructions for submission to the clearing house

Life Cycle of a Trade - Funding
• The importance of accurate & timely cash/securities forecasting
• Methods to produce a forecast
• Controlling cashflow

Life Cycle of a Trade - Settlement & Fails Management
• How settlement occurs
• The reasons behind settlement failures
• The actions that can be taken to resolve settlement failures

Settlement Simulation
• The settlement simulation provides candidates with an opportunity to put into practice the “Life Cycle of a Trade” processes.

Securities Lending & Borrowing
• Motivations of lenders and borrowers
• Life Cycle of a securities loan
• The Need for Collateral

Corporate Actions
• The main types of Corporate Action
• Operational Issues & Challenges
 
Click here to download the detailed SOFC syllabus
    
The SOFC certificate is a two and one half day taught course with pre-course reading. It is delivered in ten sessions with two additional 60 minute review sessions at the end of days one and two. On the afternoon of the third day, candidates sit an examination consisting of 50 multiple choice questions.

    

Details of the next seminars
 

London 11-13 September 2013    Venue: ICE Education Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street London EC1Y 4SA United Kingdom Based at ICE Education London offices: IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE), is a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

Brussels 13-15 November 2013    Venue: Dolce La Hulpe 135 Chaussée de Bruxelles 1310 La Hulpe Brussels Belgium

Please remember that it is your responsibility to ensure your accommodation is organised in advance as we are regrettably unable to assist in these matters.
 
    
Cost   

UK based course and Continental Europe based course
The cost of the SOFC is £1,875.00 for ICMA Members and £2,450.00 for non-members with the following discount scale being offered:
2-4 candidates – 5% discount each*
5+ candidates – 10% discount each*
*Please note that discounts are applied by way of a refund to the organisation when registration has closed and the final number of candidates from the firm has been determined.
 
Payment can be made by secure online credit card or by invoice.  Please note that selecting the invoice method will add £50 (administration fee) to the course price.

Note that anyone requiring accommodation to take the course will be required to arrange this on their own; it is a class-based but non-residential certificate programme.
       
Should you have any queries about this course, please contact David Senior on +44 20 7213 0329 or e-mail education@icmagroup.org.

SOFC certificate holders

The names of the successful candidates from previous examinations are included in our list of certificate holders.

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Kevin Leung

Organisation: Euroclear Bank
Job title: Account Manager

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
Collaborating with the relationship manager in managing the business relationships in Taiwan and Hong Kong.  Providing value-added account services for top tier clients, such as the central banks, including the daily cash flow monitoring, customisation of reports and income payment reconciliation, as well as performing regular client service reviews and training. Identifying the key areas for improvement in our core services we provide to our major clients and transforming them into account plans for actions. Also acting as the escalation point for complicated service issues for important clients and driving the actions within our client service and operations teams in order to get those issues resolved.

Reasons for taking the course:
To enhance my understanding on the securities operations from a custodian’s perspective;
To network with other participants in the industry in order to broaden my knowledge in the financial industry.

Benefits of taking this course:
Although I have quite some experience and knowledge in some of the topics covered in the course, I find it quite useful to gain more exposure, particularly on the front office operations, where I could understand more about the full trading and settlement cycle of a trade.  Also, it is a very good opportunity for me to benchmark my knowledge and experience with the industry standard.

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Chermaine Lee

Organisation: S.W.I.F.T
Job title: Market Analyst (Clearing & Settlement)

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
I’m responsible for the market management of securities market infrastructures, particularly pertaining to their clearing and settlement activities with S.W.I.F.T.

Reasons for taking the course:
To have a stronger and more technical understanding of securities operations, particularly the functions of the main actors like the global and local custodians, CSDs and ICSDs.

Benefits of taking this course:
I developed a clearer understanding of how securities are processed, in terms of the post-trade lifecycle and how the different agents interact with each other, which will be useful in my future analysis.

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Omar Alzeer

Organisation: Gulf Investment Corporation
Job title: Manager

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
I manage the settlement of securities operations transactions.

Reasons for taking the course:
In a very competitive global business environment one must develop his/her operational skills to the highest potential. The SOFC was the right collective and subjective course for this.  Not only that, but being certified by ICMA is something of added value of competence to our staff members.

Benefits of taking this course:
Despite my previous six years’ experience, this course indeed enriched my knowledge and skills in my day to day business activities.

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Alexander Lauterbach

Organisation: VEM Aktienbank AG
Job title: Head of Finance

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
Department Head Back Office:

• Clearing/Settlement of proprietary and client trading
• Payments
• National and international security delivering
• Paying Agent

Department Head Accounting:

• Financial Statements in German GAAP and IFRS
• Controlling

Reasons for taking the course:
Language update of my existing business knowledge and analysing differences between the UK market (Euroclear) and Local German market (Clearstream)

Benefits of taking this course:
Concentrated overview

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