The ICMA Centre, University of Reading is delighted to announce it has been officially designated a Securities & Investment Institute (SII) Centre of Excellence.

SII Centres of Excellence are a small group of universities, including Cass Business School and Edinburgh University, selected by the SII as offering leadership in academic education focused on financial markets.

To confirm this new agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the University and SII on Monday 10 March (picture above, left to right: Professor John Board, Director, ICMA Centre; Simon Culhane, CEO, SII; Professor Rob Robson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Reading).

The Centre of Excellence designation means that graduates from the ICMA Centre's Masters programmes in International Securities, Investment and Banking (ISIB) and Investment Management, will also be eligible for the SII Diploma, therefore receiving both a full Masters degree and the type of professionally significant certification usually only obtained after graduation.

Simon Culhane, Chief Executive of SII, who ratified the SII/ICMA agreement this week, said: "We are delighted to have appointed the ICMA Centre a Centre of Excellence. The designation will offer ICMA Centre graduates a significant headstart when progressing their financial services careers, with SII membership supporting their continuing professional development throughout their careers in the industry to ensure their skills are kept up to date and relevant."

The ICMA Centre will also be accredited to directly prepare students on its other degrees, including BSc Finance and Investment Banking, for the relevant SII examinations and SII will proactively consider exemption on a module by module basis on the Centre's undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The aim is to help as many of the Centre's students as possible, to achieve SII recognition in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

Its undergraduate students already compete for the SII's Stephen Cooke Award and this designation further enhances the Centre's relationship with the SII.

Professor John Board, Director of the ICMA Centre, said: "I am delighted that the ICMA Centre, with its long record of academic and professional excellence, will be able to collaborate further with the SII and its widely known and accepted market-based qualifications. I am sure that this association will have long lasting benefits for our students and future alumni."