E-Learning

Registration opens for career boosting documentary credit exam

  • 2 October 2013

Registration to sit the globally-recognized Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialists (CDCS®) examination has opened, giving professionals and other aspirants an opportunity to validate their level of expertise in the documentary credit field.

Boosting the career development opportunities of documentary credit professionals, ICC recently renewed a 15-year long partnership with the Institute of Financial Services (IFS) in relation to the qualification, which is acknowledged as the benchmark of competence for international practitioners in letters of credit. Through the partnership, ICC and IFS have undertaken to enhance the CDCS® programme on an on-going basis and augment its uptake worldwide.

“The CDCS is the number one qualification for letter of credit professionals around the world,” ICC Banking Commission Senior Policy Manager Thierry Senechal said. “This unique partnership between ICC and IFS has been fundamental for providing the highest certification standards possible in trade finance today.”

Recommended for candidates with a minimum of three-year’s documentary credit or related experience, the CDCS examination, delivered and examined by IFS, helps to develop workplace competences for high-level performance. Held in over 30 countries each year, the exam consists of a three-hour multiple choice examination that is designed to test knowledge and its application to practical situations. Exam success bestows the right to indicate the designation ‘CDCS’ in titles and professional signatures.

CDCS® develops core knowledge and understanding of the complex issues associated with documentary credit best practice including:

• Documentary credits – types, characteristics and uses, including standby credits

• Rules and trade terms, including UCP600, ISP98, Incoterms 2010® and URR725

• Parties to documentary credit transactions and their roles and obligations

• Types and methods of payment / credit used in documentary credit transactions, including the concept of autonomy

• Types of transport, commercial and financial documents used in documentary credit transactions

• Risk issues, including types of risks, control and mitigations

• Related products, including letter of indemnity, Air Way Releases and Steamship Guarantees

CDCS® has been developed in consultation with industry experts to ensure that the skills gained through the programme of study reflect best practice. It was first examined in 1999 and since then, CDCS professionals from more than 75 countries have taken the qualification.

Registration closes on 31 January 2014, with applicants to sit the examination in April 2014. The registration fee includes a printed or e-version study text, access to a student handbook, sample examination questions and the cost of the examination.

Furthering the ICC mission to promote international trade and investment, ICC offers a suite of approved online training services and certification facilities that to date has trained and certified over ten thousand people in over 100 counties in international trade finance.

To learn more about ICC’s trade finance suite of trainings visit ICC Events & Trainings