To date, the ACIIA® comprises 22 countries as well as the Asian, Brasilian and European federations of financial analysts societies.
The outstanding developments of our common project in Asia have been fully recounted in the second ACIIA® Newsletter.
The promising developments in Brasil have also been underlined. Europe, far from lagging behind, is continuing to develop in a dynamic and coherent way, both through the European federation itself and within the framework of its bilaterial and multilateral relations.

EFFAS was originally represented in the foundation of the ACIIA® by France (SFAF), Germany (DVFA), Italy (AIAF), Spain (IEAF) and Switzerland (SFAA). These societies have since been augmented by: Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden.
These national societies are united in their understanding of the importance of a common, high quality, certificate suitable for all investment professionals.
The CIIA® now appears to be a key element in contributing to higher quality and security throughout the European financial markets.

A great deal of effort has been put into promoting CIIA®. The number of bilateral visits among analyst associations has increased considerably. These contacts have allowed better communication, enabling the definition of certain common goals. These include:

 

- establishing an examination preparation seminar, the first of which gathered 200 candidates from Belgium, Spain and France on 4, 5 and 6 September 2003 in Paris. Reports on this event were published in the press.

 

We are particularly pleased by the increasingly frequent coverage of ACIIA® by the financial press.

 

Finally, we should mention the efforts made by some of our member-societies in promoting our certificate abroad: our Spanish colleagues are expanding their activity both at home and in Argentina and Chile. SFAF (France) has supported the foundation of the "Société Marocaine des Analystes Financiers", which has recently been approved as an ACIIA® member. SFAF is also continuing its efforts in Tunisia and Egypt. Finally, the DVFA (Germany) is guiding the East European countries in their effort to adopt CIIA®.

 

We have every reason to feel optimistic about the future of our certification. The CIIA® is clearly present throughout Asia, Latin America, Europe and now also Africa. We must endeavour to further strengthen the links between our societies to enable ACIIA®'s external development.

 

Etienne Rutsaert
EFFAS representative on the Board
Secretary General of ABAF-BVFA (Belgium).