Happy New Year

We want to take this opportunity of wishing all our clients, supporters and friends across the globe a happy 2011 – Happy New Year from “The Team” at Citadel Advantage.

Uganda’s remittances set to hit Shs2 trillion - Bank of Uganda

Dr David Kihangire, the Bank of Uganda executive director, has said Uganda will this year receive Shs2.2 trillion up from Shs1.7 trillion received last year from Ugandans working abroad.

“Projections show that remittance in 2010 will amount to $980.9 million (Shs2.2 trillion)” Dr. Kihangire said recently at a conference aimed at encouraging Ugandans in the Diaspora to invest back at home.

He attributed the increase to the number of Ugandans going to work abroad and the fact that majority at work, have not lost their jobs despite the global recession in the last two years.

A report by the World Bank; “Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011” released in November attributed the increase in remittances to the global economic recovery, which has resulted into job stability and new jobs for millions of immigrants from developing countries.

Globally remittances are expected to reach $440 billion up from $416 billion in 2009 according to the report. “Remittances help in time of crisis and distress. Remittances impact on poverty and welfare through a multiplier effect,” Dr Kihangire told participants at the 4th annual Diaspora Home is the Best Summit in Kampala yesterday.

Most of those working abroad send home money to friends and relatives for education and health purposes with little going to investment activities according to BoU.

The remittances mainly originate from Europe and America according to a recent BoU survey. “In Uganda, 50 per cent of remittances recorded have been used for education and health expenses. 40 per cent is attributed to savings and investment while 10 per cent goes to social activities,” he said.

TRAINING COURSE – INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS

Tel Aviv, Israel – 11 & 12 May 2011

This is an intensive 2-day primer for payments professionals on International Payments and has been tailored for payment professionals, either in commerce or banking who need to gain a closer understanding of International Payments.

The course provides them with a comprehensive foundation for understanding payments in a global context, covering the key principles, concepts, infrastructures, practices, issues, and current developments.

This course will be of especial interest to payments professionals who wish to expand their knowledge base and advancing their careers into the global payments arena.

For a fully descriptive brochure please send a blank e-mail to sharon@citadeladvantage.com with INTPAY-TA in the Subject line.


Who should attend?

Banking, treasury, risk management, legal and compliance, back office and operations professionals who wish to expand their knowledge base into the global payments environment.

Staff from Financial Institutions, Investment Banks, and Central Banks/Payment Systems Operator Organizations, Clearing Houses, Consultancy Groups, Legal Firms and Regulators who regularly deal with:

• Foreign Exchange
• International Payments
• Remittances
• Retail and Wholesale Payments
• Electronic Payments and Payments Processing
• Clearing and Settlement
• Securities Settlement
• Financial Control
• Risk Management and Operational Risk
• Treasury
• Auditing and Compliance

Course Venue:

REGUS Tel Aviv Ramat Gan - Ayalon House
Ayalon House, 16th Floor
12 Abba Hillel Street
Ramat-Gan 52136
Tel: +972 3 754 1111

Want to know a little more about Tel Aviv, the venue for our May International Payments Course?

Please join us for a quick tour – CLICK HERE

TRAINING COURSE – ADVANCED OPERATIONS RISK

Johannesburg, South Africa - 6 & 7 April 2011

Full course details will be available shortly.

TRAINING COURSE – PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & MANAGING CHANGE

Johannesburg, South Africa - 4 & 5 April 2011

Process Improvement and innovation is a series of actions taken to identify, analyze and improve existing business and other operational processes within an organisation to meet its goals and objectives. These may include the need to reduce costs, achieve greater operational efficiency, the merging and simplification of existing processes. Business process improvement follows a specific methodology or strategy to create successful results. All business operations whether back-office, middle-office or front-office are based on business processes. Often however, Business Processes have been inherited from earlier times, have been endlessly modified over time and tend to lose their earlier efficiencies.

With Process Improvement comes change. Often too, these changes introduce a layer of uneasiness to the individuals that make up the financial institution. Just as critical as the innovation and improvement is getting your staff to accept change as beneficial even within their own comfort zones.

This course is designed specifically for bankers to introduce them to the world of Business Processes – what they are and how they can be improved. It incorporates managing change, and how by coping with change, the changes themselves are strengthened and enhanced.

How you will benefit from this course

• Understanding a Business Process—what it is and how it is mapped.
• Understand how business processes can be improved.
• Understanding change and our reactions to this.
• Understanding stress within the context of process reengineering and change.
• Successful approaches to planning, initiating and managing a successful process improvement project.

Who should attend?

The course has been specifically designed for executive, operations and business staff at all levels in both financial institutions and other firms. This includes;

• Senior Executives
• Operations Managers
• Risk Managers
• Business Managers
• Internal and External Auditors
• Operations Officers
• Compliance Officers
• I.T. applications providers serving financial institutions

Course Venue:


REGUS Sandton, Nelson Mandela Square
West Tower, 2nd Floor, Nelson Mandela Square
Maude St.
Sandown
Johannesburg 2146
Tel: +27 (0) 11 881 5600

Nearby Hotels

Holiday Inn Sandton +27 (0)11 269 7000
Da Vinci Hotel Santon +27 (0)11 282 7094
Sandton Sun & Towers Sandton +27 (0)11 780 5000
Hyatt Sandton +27 (0)11 280 1234
Michelangelo Sandton +27 (0)11 282 7000
Hilton Sandton +27 (0)11 322 1888

There are many other hotels in the area too.

For a fully descriptive brochure please send a blank e-mail to sharon@citadeladvantage.com with PROCESS-JHB in the Subject line.

DOWNLOAD/ PRINT COURSE REGISTRATION FORM

Please scan & e-mail completed Registration form to sharon@citadeladvantage.com


Registration-Process-Jhb-Apr11 -

TRAINING COURSE - RISK MANAGEMENT - FOCUS ON FRAUD

Madrid, Spain – 9 & 10 March 2011

All banks face the dangers presented by Operational Risks. You just have to look at recent events to see two very clear examples of recent massive frauds – Bernard Madoff and Satyam. There are of course many others, but these two stand out because of their size and linkage to the present financial crisis.

A major by-product of the financial crisis was the number of frauds which have come to light – frauds that had been running for years.

How would YOU fare if your bank or organization was faced with a fraud? In fact could you even identify a fraud in your working environment? Are you maximizing your staffs’ potential to reduce fraud and error in your systems?

“Risk Management - Focus on Fraud” is a 2-day intensive course on fraud and how it presents huge challenges for banks, requiring them to radically modify behavior and increase their vigilance in many of the traditional risks associated with banking activities.

This course provides a clear introduction to the world of fraud risk management and shows how it affects bank and customer alike. This two-day course exposes participants to how modern fraud activities are altering its risk profile.

What you will gain from this course

• Understanding the Human Dynamic – How greed and fraud fit into this the fraud pattern 
• Understand and identify the key Fraud Indicators and Red Flags
• Understanding Operational Risk – The Big Picture
• Positioning your organization to successfully manage the ever-present Fraud problem 
• Successful approaches to managing Fraud Risk.

Who should attend?

• Senior Bank Executives 
• Risk Managers 
• Operations Managers
• Internal and External Auditors 
• Operations Officers
• Business Managers 
• Compliance Officers 
• I.T. applications providers serving financial institutions
• Consultants and professionals serving the financial services industry.

Course Venue:


REGUS Madrid Palacio Miraflores
Carrera de San Jerónimo 15
2º. Palacio de Miraflores
Madrid 28014
Spain
Tel: +34 91 454 7000

Nearby Hotels

Santander
Carrera De San Jerónimo 26
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 369 1078

Urban
Carrera De San Jerónimo 34
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 787 7770

Inglés
Calle De Echegaray 8
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 429 6551

Asturias
Calle De Sevilla 2
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 429 6676

There are many other hotels in the area too.

For a fully descriptive brochure please send a blank e-mail to sharon@citadeladvantage.com with FRAUD-MADRID in the Subject line.

DOWNLOAD/ PRINT COURSE REGISTRATION FORM

Please scan & e-mail completed Registration form to sharon@citadeladvantage.com



Registration-Fraud-Madrid-11 - sharon@citadeladvantage.com

TRAINING COURSE – PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & MANAGING CHANGE

Madrid, Spain – 7 & 8 March 2011

Process Improvement and innovation is a series of actions taken to identify, analyze and improve existing business and other operational processes within an organisation to meet its goals and objectives. These may include the need to reduce costs, achieve greater operational efficiency, the merging and simplification of existing processes. Business process improvement follows a specific methodology or strategy to create successful results. All business operations whether back-office, middle-office or front-office are based on business processes. Often however, Business Processes have been inherited from earlier times, have been endlessly modified over time and tend to lose their earlier efficiencies.

With Process Improvement comes change. Often too, these changes introduce a layer of uneasiness to the individuals that make up the financial institution. Just as critical as the innovation and improvement is getting your staff to accept change as beneficial even within their own comfort zones.

This course is designed specifically for bankers to introduce them to the world of Business Processes – what they are and how they can be improved. It incorporates managing change, and how by coping with change, the changes themselves are strengthened and enhanced.

How you will benefit from this course

• Understanding a Business Process—what it is and how it is mapped.
• Understand how business processes can be improved.
• Understanding change and our reactions to this.
• Understanding stress within the context of process reengineering and change.
• Successful approaches to planning, initiating and managing a successful process improvement project.

 Who should attend?

The course has been specifically designed for executive, operations and business staff at all levels in both financial institutions and other firms. This includes;

• Senior Executives
• Operations Managers
• Risk Managers
• Business Managers
• Internal and External Auditors
• Operations Officers
• Compliance Officers
• I.T. applications providers serving financial institutions

Course Venue:


REGUS Madrid Palacio Miraflores
Carrera de San Jerónimo 15
2º. Palacio de Miraflores
Madrid 28014
Spain
Tel: +34 91 454 7000

Nearby Hotels

Santander
Carrera De San Jerónimo 26
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 369 1078

Urban
Carrera De San Jerónimo 34
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 787 7770

Inglés
Calle De Echegaray 8
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 429 6551

Asturias
Calle De Sevilla 2
Madrid 28014
Tel: +34 91 429 6676

There are many other hotels in the area too.

For a fully descriptive brochure please send a blank e-mail to sharon@citadeladvantage.com with PROCESS-MADRID in the Subject line

DOWNLOAD/ PRINT COURSE REGISTRATION FORM
Please scan & e-mail completed Registration form to sharon@citadeladvantage.com


Registration-Process-Madrid-11 -

Foreign banks join Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) automated teller network

Five major foreign banks in Malaysia have joined the Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) automated teller machine (ATM) network, which until recently had been the domain of local banks.

Beginning in 2011, HSBC Bank Malaysia, OCBC Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia) and Citibank will form part of the MEPs family, enabling customers to use the ATM facilities on a wider scale.

StanChart and Citibank had earlier announced their decisions last week.

The agreement links the banks to the MEPS service which provides interbank cash withdrawals and balance enquiries at more than 10,000 ATMs across Malaysia.

However, the banks will launch the service individually over time as soon as their respective systems are fully operational. Currently, there are 14 foreign banks in Malaysia.

This development is in line with recommendations in the Financial Sector Masterplan to allow incumbent foreign banks to set up a shared ATM network and introduce new foreign competition.

Given the intensifying degree of global competition and greater assimilation into the global arena, the banking sector has to be prepared for greater liberalization.

HSBC general manager (Personal Financial Services) Lim Eng Seong said through this partnership, the bank hoped to expand its reach to a larger and more diverse market segment.

“We aim to raise the bar in customer experience. Thanks to Bank Negara's various liberalisation initiatives, customers of locally incorporated foreign banks now have a wider access to their banking needs,” he said in the joint statement yesterday.

OCBC head of consumer financial services Charles Sik said the combined customer base of the four banks would expand the national electronic payments solutions service in Malaysia to be one of the most convenient in this part of the world.

UOB senior vice-president and senior head of personal financial services Tay Han Chong said there was now another reason for Malaysians to develop their banking relationships with locally incorporated foreign banks.

MEPS group managing director Mohd Suhail Amar Suresh told StarBiz that the entry of five foreign banks would increase the total number of MEPS ATM outlets to about 11,000 from 10,253 as at November. There are now 16 member banks in the network.

“In addition to convenient access to ATMs nationwide, banks with MEPS have the option of offering funds transfer and mobile prepaid top-ups, as well as interbank cash withdrawals and balance enquiry for domestic and cross-border services.

“These services have enabled member banks to improve and enhance operational efficiency and service delivery by offering multi-channel banking to their customers,” he said.

Suhail added that MEPS had formed partnerships with switching networks in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and China for the provision of bilateral financial payment and credit transfer services and is set to expand it further to other regional networks.

2011 smartphone trends - Consumers Electronics Show & Mobile World Congress will point the way

January 6, 2011 will set the scene as far as revealing new smartphone trends in 2011. That day at the Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas as well as in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona people will see the latest developments in the mobile industry.

However, without waiting for that there is general agreement on lead the market in 2011.

1. Dual-core processor phones. The industry will continue upgrading processors in 2011 with the introduction of dual-core ones. In December, LG Electronics unveiled the Optimus 2X, a smartphone based on Android and Nvidia's dual-core Tegra2 processor. Apart from this Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung and Texas Instruments are independently developing their own dual-core platforms.
2. 3D displays. While consumers are disappointed with the effect of 3D, it will still be the trend in 2011.
3. NFC. The industry starts paying closer attention to the near-field communications technology which has been around for a significant time so far. Now there will be more phones compatible with the NFC. Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread, includes NFC technology. The Nexus S, made by Samsung, is the first Android-based smartphone with NFC.
4. Video evolution. 2011 is expected to bring 720p to 1080p recording capacities. The LG Optimus 2X comes with 1080p HD video playback and recording, and can connect to an external display using HDMI, which is also expected to be a more common feature next year. The combination of HDMI, support for 1080p and higher download speeds in mobile networks also allows mobile operators to offer more video services.