It is thus essential to ensure that society obtains full value for the resources devoted to public sector activities, both in terms of the quantity and the quality of the outputs produced. Now whereas in the private sector failure to deliver value for money eventually results in bankruptcy, there exists no such effective sanction in the public sector. This is partly because expenditures are typically financed through general taxation and borrowing, and the funds thus raised are not directly earmarked for specific expenditures. Inadequate enforcement of accountability standards is another reason. It is also the case that industrial relations and human resource management in the public sector are often undertaken without sufficient consideration for budget constraints, while job security and tenure are taken for granted irrespective of performance or productivity levels. A further dimension  BIS Review 67/2004  1  of this problem is the fact that the success of government spending tends to be measured more in terms of its potential to produce electoral dividends than in a longer-term growth perspective. All of these factors reduce the incentive to use resources efficiently. Similar arguments apply to the welfare system, where the size of the expenditure can easily exceed that required to maintain social cohesion and the focus be diverted away from genuine needs. This situation has materialised in a number of countries, including the more advanced economies in the EU, which are now facing hard choices regarding the future of health and pension systems.

Financial institutions are increasingly using technology to gain an edge over their competitors, or to achieve cost efficiencies and free up resources for new growth areas. In consumer banking, we are now seeing new mobile payment products that enable on-the-go transactions. In private banking, banks are putting more investment tools at the disposal of their clients. For corporates, banks are using technology to facilitate end-to-end supply chain financing. And needless to say, cyber security is now a key risk, everywhere in the world. Across the business, from management to individual business units, technology skills and adaptability must be a strategic imperative. Initiatives to facilitate the building of competencies IBF has a key role in ensuring that finance professionals are able to keep pace with these challenges of the future. IBF has been undertaking the strategic role of a standard-setting body for financial sector competencies since 2001. When we went on to launch the Financial Industry Competency Standards or FICS in 2005, IBF took on the role as the national accreditation and certification agency for the FICS framework. The FICS cannot be a static set of competency standards. It must evolve, to cater to new business opportunities and new regulations, and to encourage individuals to build up expertise continually. We are thus unveiling today the “IBF Standards”, which provide practice-oriented development roadmaps for all our financial sector practitioners. The IBF standards which will merge IBF’s current offering of industry examinations and industry standards offered under FICS, into an integrated and seamless set of competency standards.