The World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report has rated the South African financial sector amongst the top ten in the world and as a sector, is by far the most significant contributor to the countries overall ranking. Within the financial sector, both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the banking industry have been consistently ranked in the top three and top six in the world, respectively.

South Africa provides a financial centre for the African continent and in the State of the Nation Address on the 11th February 2016, the president announced that The Banking Association South Africa would establish a centre of excellence for financial services and leadership training in support of this national objective.

The board of the Banking Association, approved the establishment of a centre of excellence in financial services at their annual general meeting, and a non-profit organisation was registered on the 23rd of December 2016.

Our vision is to bring together thought leaders, both local and international, to interrogate the role financial services can play in achieving national and international objectives, in collaboration with industry experts and academics.

Our mission is to identify friction points in the financial services sector and initiate appropriate research to engage policy makers, regulators and industry participants by initiating broader public dialogue through credible thought leadership.

The Centre of Excellence in Financial Services (Coefs) is organised into three layers of directed research.  At the lowest level, problem statements are identified by the financial sector and through Coefs, made available to universities.

The research may be conducted by the staff of the university or facilitate topics for masters and doctorial students.  The published article or dissertation can be used by Coefs at the second level of directed research, a round table discussion.  Here a group of individuals that have expertise in the subject matter, including those with non-financial expertise, where appropriate, would develop a working paper as an output from their deliberations.

The highest level of directed research will be Coefs board approved research, in the form of a substantive research report.  Research reports may be based on a working paper.