From 1 January 2015 forth, no Isle of Man financial advisor will be allowed to continue without a statement of professional standing or SPS; the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment has just opened its doors to applicants.

The UK's Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is to become a so-called "accredited body" or AB, with the right to issue Statements of Professional Standing (SPSs) on the same basis as on the mainland.

"Accredited body" status comes solely from regulators - in this case from the Financial Supervision Commission - and is not to be confused with "awarding body" status, bestowed by Ofqual, the Office for Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, which is an educational quango and not a financial regulatory one. Both types of organisation, confusingly, are called ABs and may be the same organisation.

At any event, the CISI will be authorised to issue the SPSs that allow people to provide financial advice to retail clients on the island. From 1 January 2015 forth, no Isle of Man financial advisor will be allowed to continue without one. As on the mainland, he will be required to hold a relevant qualification and demonstrate that he has undertaken at least 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the previous year.

The CISI opened its doors to applications on 1 August. The SPS application form, along with other details about the work that advisors must do, can be found at cisi.org/imrdr. The organisation has 300 members on the Isle of Man already. It is holding its annual 'shindig' on 24 October at the Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club.