The success of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers can be gauged by the quality of those who have undertaken its courses and put this knowledge into practice.
One example is Steven Tan Son Jun, deputy manager, corporate finance, of the China Development Finance Co (CDFC), who passed the HKIB Levels I and II while working with the Bank of China (BoC) and its joint-venture partners in Shenzhen.
Mr Tan now specialises in preparing initial public offerings for China's state-owned enterprises that want to go public.
CDFC is a wholly owned subsidiary and investment arm of the BoC's Hong Kong branch.
Its main business is fund management, corporate finance and loan syndication.
'My job is to help restructure these companies so that they are suitable to be listed in Hong Kong and raise funds,' he said.
Mr Tan, from Shenzhen, obtained a Bsc (Economics) from the University of Wuhan and then joined the BoC's Guangzhou branch.