Re-certification and Continuing Professional Development
When passing the qualification, the CDCS® designation will remain valid for three years. The maintenance and broadening of knowledge is required to demonstrate continued professional competence in the field of international trade finance, particularly for documentary credit specialists.
To retain the CDCS® designation, holders are required to participate in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Alternatively, if you are unable to complete 24 PDUs, or do not wish to participate in the CPD program, you will be required to register for the examination at the end of the three-year period in order to retain the CDCS® designation.
View the Institute payment details for more information regarding sending fees.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- Participation in a wide variety of professional development activities is required to maintain active CDCS® status.
- Re-certification is required every three years.
- You are required to complete 24 Professional Development Units (PDUs) in each three-year cycle.
- One PDU is equivalent to a 50-60 minute session or contact hour
- PDUs can be earned from a variety of different activities.
- Upon request you may receive a statement of your status and number of PDUs completed.
- You are automatically included in the annual International CDCS Registry
You must complete the CDCS® Activity Reporting form as each PDU activity is undertaken. Each form should be submitted to either the Institute or BAFT-IFSA at the appropriate time, as detailed in the Recertification Guidelines .
CPD Categories
- Accredited courses & Management Development Programs.
- Industry education, e.g. exhibitions, seminars and conferences.
- Further qualifications, e.g. Masters or PhD.
- Imparting knowledge, e.g. speaking at courses, seminars or conferences.
- Published materials, e.g. books, manuals, magazine/journal articles.
- Volunteer industry leadership, e.g. serving on an Institute, BAFT-IFSA or ICC committee.
View a list of ifs School of Finance approved courses and BAFT-IFSA approved courses for the purposes of CDCS® recertification.
Please note that all candidates for recertification who received their certification prior to 2008 will be required attain a minimum of 8 PDU's from approved UCP 600 training. For more details contact either the BAFT-IFSA or the Institute of Financial Services.