Treasury markets comprise a wide range of products including foreign exchange, fixed income, derivatives and so on. The boundaries between various markets have become blurred alongside more innovative and sophisticated structuring of new products. Whether dealing, sales or back-office staff in treasury markets all require strong technical, up-to-date knowledge in order to cope with the rapid changes in treasury markets. In the discussions between the Treasury Markets Forum and ACI - The Financial Markets Association of Hong Kong on the design of the new membership scheme, we consider that there is a need to bring together qualifying practitioners from various treasury markets. This can facilitate the exchange of views among practitioners within the industry on the one hand and promote the professional standing of practitioners on the other hand. In addition, accredited educational programmes should be introduced to raise the professionalism of practitioners and provide training to those who are interested to join the industry. Following the active co-ordination among industry bodies, I am glad that the ACI - The Financial Markets Association of Hong Kong has successfully launched the new membership regime and made a major stride in raising professionalism of treasury market practitioners. While ACI - The Financial Markets Association traditionally is composed of professionals in foreign exchange market, today, it has expanded the membership to those engaged in other treasury markets (such as bonds and derivatives), encompassing dealing, sales, broker and back-office personnel.
In the introduction of accredited training courses, it is necessary to co-operate with leading and renowned educational institutions to provide quality training so as to achieve the objective of raising professional standard and gain wide recognition. I am happy to announce that the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Science and Technology will offer certificate programmes on dealing, settlement and fixed income securities. Practitioners can take these courses to obtain a professional qualification to meet part of the membership requirement of the Association. In addition, the new regime recognises the rapid evolution in financial markets, and the need for continuous professional training in upgrading the skills and expertise of practitioners. A new requirement on continuous professional training is therefore introduced for the renewal of the membership. In strengthening the international financial centre status of Hong Kong, it is important to foster our advantage in having a professional workforce. We believe that the launch of the new membership regime of ACI - The Financial Markets Association of Hong Kong and educational programmes will help upgrade the technical skills and expertise of treasury market professionals and help them to catch  BIS Review 58/2004  1  up with the latest developments in the markets. This will work towards our ultimate goal in raising overall competitiveness of treasury markets in Hong Kong. Alongside the rapid growth of the Mainland economy and the gradual liberalisation of their markets, there is an increasing demand for treasury markets products and services from the Mainland.