Call for University of the West Indies to Consider Offering Degree Program in Compliance

Declaring that compliance was among the “professions of the future”, one compliance specialist has urged officials of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to consider offering a degree programme in the area.

General Counsel and Compliance Manager with Sagicor Bank Cindy Sadaphal made the call on Monday as she participated as a panellist in a roundtable discussion on Propelling Barbados’ International Business Sector and Financial Sector.

She said the university could work with industry operators to develop the course.

“At the end of the day, we have a long way to go, and one of the things we can start focusing on is not just having compliance as a certification which a number of institutions offer. It is a very good certification but having it has an actual course that you can study for three years, even if it is part of something else – be it economics or something like that – but you spend at least a year or two studying compliance. There are so many aspects of it,” Sadaphal explained.

“All of these things are things that need to be taught, and not only taught to be learned but also develop the profession because we want to see more young people getting into this profession and staying in it.”

The Sagicor Bank official told the audience which included several Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE)-level students that they could reach the top of the so-called professional ladder within an organisation or even operate their own firm by entering the field of compliance.

Vicki Marshall, corporate secretary and Barbados head of compliance and governance with Canada Life Reinsurance, agreed there was a need for a degree programme covering several areas of compliance, including anti-money laundering, financial crimes, supplier risk management and governance.

Appealing directly to the UWI principal for such a degree programme, she said: “I hope the next time I am back, UWI is doing that and not just e-commerce . . . . I don’t want it as a short certification, Professor Landis. I want it as a master’s and then you can eventually do the bachelor’s in the area of compliance.”

Meanwhile, managing director of Smith Compliance Consulting Glenna Smith recommended that the UWI engage in more research in the area and help the global business sector tell its story. She said there was a need for more research to be carried out on the sector’s contribution to the local economy.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Clive Landis gave no indication of whether he would be putting forward the recommendation for a degree programme in compliance to be introduced.

(MM)